The Inner Caravan was inspired by two very simple quotes;
"The only journey is the journey within." - Rainer Maria Rilke
"All serious daring starts from within." - Eudora Welty
The inner journey is so awesomely important...AND at times, it can feel a little lonely or overwhelming. Sometimes, we need to get out of our spinning heads, take a siesta from solo self-discovery and need to be in relationship about what is going on in our lives and what we want to create more of.
Hence, the Inner Caravan was born, a place where we connect in partnership to travel through the journey of life (bumps and all). It's the commitment and practice to SHARED reflection that can make significant shifts in our world. It's tuning in. It's turning off. It's leaning in. It's leaning out. It's giving your personal well-being a collaborator who believes that it's damn important to do "the work" (but in ways that it doesn't always feel like "work").
While I have been influenced by some of the great reflective thinkers like David Kolb, Donald Schon and others, I also like to think far beyond common cognitive models of what reflection means.
My invitation to you is to create a reflective practice on your own terms and find ways to share it (whether that's with a coach, a friend, a stranger) and to RE-DEFINE what it means..
Re-defining Reflection
- Reflection is not always quiet; it is listening to what our head, heart, senses and gut say. (That stuff can get loud, and it can simmer low).
- It is not necessarily a solo activity; solo thought only takes us so far. We all need a mirror.
- It is not twiddling our thumbs or wasting time; It is a lively way to foster more mindfulness, innovation and expression in life and work.
- It is not beating ourselves up with an endless goal sheet that holds little meaning. It is infusing our goals + work/life practices from a reflectively open, honest and curious place, leading to deeply resonant + informed action.
- It is not boring evaluation; in fact, it can be quite disruptive to shake up beliefs, stories & patterns
- It is not selfish or self centered, rather it is centering self and standing for self- expansion in order to be other-oriented and to solidify our connections
- It is not one dimensional, and does not always mean journaling. It is incorporating multiple intelligence's and finding different approaches to document your thinking + dreams + truths + growth (hence playing around with music, metaphors, imagery in this blog)
- No matter how it looks, it is a way to intentionally integrate meaning + learning into our personal + professional life. Reflection IS creating the conditions to observe and connect to our inner and outer worlds! Reflection IS action.
Reflective practice works best when you define what it is and how it works for you!
How will you define reflection? How will you share it?
Caravan On!
Tammy Rose
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