Category: Reflections
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On a personal note
Or rather collection of random notes from the last three days. I had a bit of a week… Three years ago I was once again at the physio, once again lower back pain, and yes there is damage from a car crash, but she said: something isn’t right do you mind if I check your…
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Of Being a Young Artist Again
A Denkanstoß Today I was reflecting on being young in age versus being young in experience with a certain skill or subject. This came about when I followed drawing instructions. And only halfway through the Pinterest tutorial did I notice that the resource stated it was from Drawing Lessons for the Young Artist. I have…
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Happy New Year
Auf dem Zahnfleisch kriechend: By the skin of our teeth We made it! Granted: rough and ready, stumbling into the new year, still exhausted and tired from infections, and right away into the emergency room in the hospital. Anxiously waiting for ten hours for my MiL’s life to be saved, which it was. Photo by…
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Successful Aimlessness: #AcWriMo2022 Last Words
I did not set any goals for this year’s Academic Writing Month. And I believe because of this it was my most productive and most joyful AcWriMo ever. This is the 13th blog post of the month! All I wanted to do was: just write. I just wanted to write again. Without force, expectations, publisher…
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Unsticking my Writing by Pondering a Wicked Problem
Part two of random writing: Social Network Dynamics I want to share a wicked problem. All that talk about social networks–their value, their issues of late made me ponder this: Maybe the combined perspectives will unearth some insights, so please do comment and share! Even if just to say you have the same questions. In…
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Why Most Productivity Advice is Pointless
…or thinking about rivers ‘We are all tired.’ These words reverberate through higher education, no matter the country. We are all tired. Normally in October I have a plan for the academic year, the next quarter and the month. This is one of my key strategies to stay on top of the ADHD-fall out—being highly…
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Biggest Take Away from 2021: Question your Childhood beliefs of yourself
Biggest take away from this year: don’t let childhood beliefs hold you back! I finally got a proper asthma diagnosis and treatment, and it has changed my life! Until this year I never told my GP all the symptoms because I put them down to not being fit, not being sporty. And I had a…
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Is it because the spaces never close?
Just coping, not quite fine In a conversation with my students (who are also peers and colleagues) today we were talking about how we all struggle at the moment. What emerged from the conversation is that we all felt things should be easier this year. We have pivoted online, we know how everything works. And…
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SoTL as Strategic Imperative?
I made this a year after setting up the SoTL network in our institution, and this is my visual reflection on the thoughts emerging from this. The first point was that I was wondering if SoTL needs to be a strategic imperative for Higher Education institutions. On one side it fosters evidence based practice, providing…
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#SoTLwalk May 2021: Kindness
The lovely Dr Natasha Taylor from RMIT is at it again this month, with the topic of Kindness. So let’s dive in right away: What role does kindness play in your teaching and professional identity? What does it mean to teach with kindness; to learn with kindness? How can we harness the power of kindness…
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The Lockdown Diary
I didn’t publish this post in September 2020 because I thought it might be too soon and we were just going into another lockdown. Sharing some thoughts from my lockdown diary, written about a year ago, moved into a blog post draft some months later and now maybe ready to publish: Diary came up today…
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Roots in times of Upheaval
All the upheaval this year has brought on reminiscence and reflections–many of which circling around a childhood whose remains can only be found in museums, dusty atticks, or maybe the odd collections treasured individually. Nobody would know of the books we have read. East German children books had such sophisticated and brilliant illustrators. Where did…
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Life Domains
Twine weavingBetwixtAmongstAmongThroughout How do you solveBoundariesThrilled ChaosMy whole lifeBalance on the pointOf a needle Skin prick sharpRuling chaosIs not for the faint heartedEven equilibrium is flowForward motionPerpetuum mobileWhen forced to stopThe energy becomes volatile I create alwaysCogito ergo sumAedifico ergo sumMore like itIf grammatically questionableRelationships aren’t a domainThey are everythingLove’s arms around meFriend on walksPartner…
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Like Lotus from the Mud
First days of annual leaveThe struggle is realWinding down impossibleToo many loose ends to tie up Communications to finishPlans to makeCreating order as strategyWardrobe, drawers, papers While the mind meandersThe hands make spaceAnd somehowCreating outer spaceCreates inner space The white noise is calming downAnd thoughts emergeLike bright lotus blossoms from mudThey were hoveringJust below the…
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Of Wormholes and SoTLwalks
Hello lovely bloggers and readers, I have no idea what happened to November! So my theory is that on my last SoTLwalk I fell into a wormhole and came out in December back in my office instead of the path I was walking. I am sticking with that explanation. It’s 2020 and this makes as…