Originally published at Ideas on Fire, December 2, 2020
Hello everyone and welcome to December! This certainly has been a hell of a year and if you’re anything like us at Ideas on Fire, you’re probably pretty grateful we get to close out 2020 soon.
Our theme for December is reflection but the tumultuous events of this year require a different kind of contemplation than your usual year-end review.
The articles, posts, and podcast episodes we have for you this month focus on how you can process your journey over the last 12 months and set the stage for a supportive 2021.
What reflection looks like this year
Reflection involves both looking back and looking forward, paying attention to both your external communities and your inner voice.
In a new video, I offer ways to assess what you went through in 2020, validate your creative adaptations, and decide what you want to carry into 2021 versus what you want to leave behind.
Reviewing your priorities
Most of us have been in permanent triage mode this year. Although necessary to get through tough times, this leaves us little energy to step back and ask: What do I actually need? What do I want?
Check out Christopher Persaud’s video on how to review your priorities after a tumultuous year.
End-of-semester management
Part of what makes reflection so vital and yet so challenging this time of year is that things pile up at the end of the semester. To help, Kate Drabinski shares how you can manage the end-of-term crunch with energy to spare.
Alexandra Sastre also offers tips on managing grading without getting overwhelmed and Aimi Hamraie shares their technique for embracing the dark winter season to create sustainable writing and teaching practices.
Reflection and vulnerability
On the latest episode of Imagine Otherwise, curator and scholar Bakirathi Mani explains how pursuing a new professional goal of curation helped her reflect on her teaching practices and the way she models vulnerability for students.
Listen to the full interview or read the transcript for tips on how such reflection can help you align your projects with your values, even in the midst of radical change.
Wishing you a wonderful December and month of reflection!
