Return of Narrative Psychology and My Initial Attempts to Employ GTD/EN/Asana With My Team
First off, apologies for my many typos. I kind of just write these off the cuff, and don't really revise or edit. This blog is more of a stream of consciousness, thought organizer tool for me. The public-ness of it adds an extra, I don't know, incentive to actually write something with at least a semblance of coherence. Even if no one is really reading this--which seems to be the case--writing for even an imaginary audience keeps my mind more focused, which is a little sad, considering the meanderings of my posts. I'm a long time journaler, but I have found my private journaling in recent years have become more sparce and very sporadic, like a collection of disjointed, random and short thought bursts. So, again, the blog somehow gets me to write more (despite my long hiatus from the Life Line). And it keeps my rants more cohesive. I explore and reflect on my thoughts more.
When I was on the hiatus and writing very little, I felt this sort of unorganized mind anxiety creep up on me. So I dabbled with going back to this blog in march (after stopping for a long time LAST August). But it was really my recent interview when I felt a need to really utilize the power of writing, the power of this Life Line blog. And I truly think it helped. So, it a public journal. I try to keep it clean :)
Speaking of keeping it clean, I did feel I censored myself yesterday. With the new promotion and how social media can ruin careers, especially maybe in academe, I felt inhibited, and I wasn't happy with what I wrote. But I wrote, and I always feel writing something is always better than not writing...at least for me.
To be far in regards to the hiatus, I was writing more. I was journaling on Evernote (I continue to experiement with ways to use EN), and I was working on a couple creative writing projects, which I hope to return to soon. Also, last year was another huge transition year for me. Moved to a new town, new job, and I bought a house. Those are really big life stressors. I also started teaching online again, and I get the majority of work done for my classes during the weekend. So finding a new balance was hard. Still working on that, really. That where Getting Things Done really came in as a must for me, and I'm glad I found it. It has helped a lot, and I still have not implemented it to it's full potential. It's an ongoing project...and one I like and feel good about when I get better. I am also looking for ways to employ a GTD workflow with my new staff and tools that will facilitate that. I don't want to introduce something herky jerky, but I am considering having the workgroup use download and use Evernote and possible a project management tool. Top contenders I am considering is Asana and Azendoo. Azendo is more EN compatible. But Asana has a much better and easier user interface.
Finally, my creative writing. I want to get back into it, I also am pretty sure I am going to pursue a Ph.D. There are some out there for working professionals in Higher Ed. I am interested in. But all these things take time, and I can be pretty bad at overextending myself. So I have to set limits and priorities. Sounds like a new project to tackle.
Man, my blogs are much more peppy and positive. Sappy even. Probably more boring from a readers perspective. Thinking and reading back on my initial Life Line posts, I was in a pretty dark place. Recently separated, on the verge of divorce. One of my areas of research expertise in grad school was about the therapeutic power of writing. There is a lot of theorists and empirical evidence that speaks for the efficacy of writing and narratives. A lesser known subfield within psychology, even; narrative psychology. One of my favorite comprehensive websites about the field still exits, I'm happy to say...though it looks like it hasn't been updated in, oh, 10 years or so. Time REALLY does fly. But the narrative psychology and therapy is very much alive and thriving. And my own experience with this blog really speaks further for the effectiveness of writing to help cope with tough life experiences and transitions. Life Line indeed. I had sort of forgotten about my former passion for narrative psychology, but that info, it seems, had always been banging around in head, urging me to create this blog and inspire what I named it, And, now, through writing, I have rediscovered this old passion. We shall not cease from our explorations...
How can narrative psych help me further? How can I bring it to my work group and my students?
When I was on the hiatus and writing very little, I felt this sort of unorganized mind anxiety creep up on me. So I dabbled with going back to this blog in march (after stopping for a long time LAST August). But it was really my recent interview when I felt a need to really utilize the power of writing, the power of this Life Line blog. And I truly think it helped. So, it a public journal. I try to keep it clean :)
Speaking of keeping it clean, I did feel I censored myself yesterday. With the new promotion and how social media can ruin careers, especially maybe in academe, I felt inhibited, and I wasn't happy with what I wrote. But I wrote, and I always feel writing something is always better than not writing...at least for me.
To be far in regards to the hiatus, I was writing more. I was journaling on Evernote (I continue to experiement with ways to use EN), and I was working on a couple creative writing projects, which I hope to return to soon. Also, last year was another huge transition year for me. Moved to a new town, new job, and I bought a house. Those are really big life stressors. I also started teaching online again, and I get the majority of work done for my classes during the weekend. So finding a new balance was hard. Still working on that, really. That where Getting Things Done really came in as a must for me, and I'm glad I found it. It has helped a lot, and I still have not implemented it to it's full potential. It's an ongoing project...and one I like and feel good about when I get better. I am also looking for ways to employ a GTD workflow with my new staff and tools that will facilitate that. I don't want to introduce something herky jerky, but I am considering having the workgroup use download and use Evernote and possible a project management tool. Top contenders I am considering is Asana and Azendoo. Azendo is more EN compatible. But Asana has a much better and easier user interface.
Finally, my creative writing. I want to get back into it, I also am pretty sure I am going to pursue a Ph.D. There are some out there for working professionals in Higher Ed. I am interested in. But all these things take time, and I can be pretty bad at overextending myself. So I have to set limits and priorities. Sounds like a new project to tackle.
Man, my blogs are much more peppy and positive. Sappy even. Probably more boring from a readers perspective. Thinking and reading back on my initial Life Line posts, I was in a pretty dark place. Recently separated, on the verge of divorce. One of my areas of research expertise in grad school was about the therapeutic power of writing. There is a lot of theorists and empirical evidence that speaks for the efficacy of writing and narratives. A lesser known subfield within psychology, even; narrative psychology. One of my favorite comprehensive websites about the field still exits, I'm happy to say...though it looks like it hasn't been updated in, oh, 10 years or so. Time REALLY does fly. But the narrative psychology and therapy is very much alive and thriving. And my own experience with this blog really speaks further for the effectiveness of writing to help cope with tough life experiences and transitions. Life Line indeed. I had sort of forgotten about my former passion for narrative psychology, but that info, it seems, had always been banging around in head, urging me to create this blog and inspire what I named it, And, now, through writing, I have rediscovered this old passion. We shall not cease from our explorations...
How can narrative psych help me further? How can I bring it to my work group and my students?
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