A couple weeks ago, I blogged about how a little self-awareness goes a long way. Since I am always striving for more self-awareness and work to get there with some well-time journal prompts, I thought I’d share a few that my students and I will tackle during the first week of classes this fall.
What do you most appreciate about yourself? About what are you most confident?
How do you care for yourself each day?
How do you show yourself a lack of concern on a regular basis?
What is your vision for yourself and how is that different from who you are today?
When I think about these questions, I consider my passion and compassion. I think about the way I take time to read and my desire to fuel my body with healthy food. I think about how I don’t get enough sleep. And how I sometimes overengage in things I shouldn’t. I consider how going vegetarian has made me pause long enough each night to provide a homemade meal– something I always wanted to do but was too focused on other things to do regularly before going vegetarian.
What comes to mind when you think of these questions?
Rosie, I love this exercise and these questions. I am so conscious of inspiring this kind of dialogue with my daughter and only just now becoming aware of the importance of doing it with myself. Thanks for making me think. Gotta run now and give some thought to these questions.
Thank you so much for these prompts. They’ve sparked some really useful internal work for me.
What do you most appreciate about yourself?
I want to take the road less traveled.
About what are you most confident?
I like “living” life to its fullest and testing what my limitations are and how far I am willing to push these limits (safely).
How do you care for yourself each day?
I give myself the opportunity to chose to just relax and “be” but for the most part, I am always choseing to “hit it head on” and it feels good that I know it is a choice – knowing that, I seem to feel more empowered.
How do you show yourself a lack of concern on a regular basis?
I am not good to my body as I could be: I sleep late; I push myself to learn & do more; I love hard; I work hard; I play hard.
What is your vision for yourself and how is that different from who you are today?
I want to find a niche that I can contribute to my sister Latinas that would assist in combating injustices in how men see women. I also want to help to repair how us Latinas are perceived as individuals, how we perceive ourselves, within the community, and in the job force. I hope to accomplish this goal by mending misunderstandings within ourselves by developing myself and by being a mentor that would warrant fellowship from other Latinas. I must practice what I preach right? Today, I am trying to develop that image within myself first, as I believe that I my efforts are not being received by others with the intentions that I long to create.
I love your book Hijas Americanas. There are so many aspects of your book that I relate to. Currently, I buy copies of this book and give it to a few of my Latina classmates as gifts. I have found that they are secretly just as misplaced as I had been. Since I am 36, and my classmates are much younger than I, your book creates an easy way for me to describe what I sense they may be going through without me having to discuss such private details of either of our lives. I have foung this to be true and they are relieved to read your book – thank you. Although I am not a professional & have never been a mentor to anyone, I feel that my personal experiences parallel the direction of Hijas Americanas and I have wanted to help someone else who may be going through some of the hardest parts of what I have already gone through – and I hate to see that. Since I have bought your book for others, I appreciate that I can possibly make a positive impression in their lives by creating a bridge of mentorship that satisfies my interest in contributing to the Latina self-discovery.
Melissa, what lovely reflections. Thank you for sharing them here. It seems as if you have articulated some thoughts that will help you to breakthrough. I wish you all the best!
And I am so happy to hear that Hijas has found its way to you. And it sounds like you have been a mentor– whether you know it or not– to many others including your classmates whom you so thoughtfully buy the book for. I love your intentionality and hope to hear from you more in the coming days and months! Abrazos, Rosie