The Beauty of Acceptance

‘It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten, or its learning potential lost. It is from the feelings and thoughts emerging from this reflection that generalisations or concepts can be generated. And it is generalisations that allow new situations to be tackled effectively.’

Gibbs (1988) in Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods

Reflection is a fundamental part of our lives. The core motivation of this process within us, is development. The urge to move forward, become a better version of ourselves and learn for what is to come, is what ultimately fuels us.

But is there too much reflection?

When does reflection become overthinking or even harmful to the process of development? The line is thin.

Many moments we are trying to understand in our lives don’t have sufficient answers - but we are still looking for them. Eventually, some things are meant to be unanswered, untouched, and left as they are.

Paradoxically, at times we loose sight of the main goal of reflection while reflecting.

The common goal of reflection mostly lies in knowing the end of the process, but ultimately what really counts, is the path.

What are we learning about ourselves?

The process of reflection has infinite facets to explore. Moreover, it has infinite ways of being understood and the use of it in our lives never ends.

While this might sound quite overwhelming at first, this project doesn’t encourage not to reflect, but rather to reflect in different ways.

Instead of thinking of a moment actively and trying to squeeze the „learning outcome“ out of it as fast as possible, we can also wait, observe, and let in what is necessary in order to explore every part of the process - with it’s fair amount of time. Reflection is part of us, it’s not something we end quickly and move on.

Reflection is timeless.

This project is meant to ‚reflect‘ exactly that: the acceptance of whatever lies infront of us. Observing, letting in and letting it rest. Observing what it does, giving every emotion its space, also if we don’t understand what it means or where its coming from. Afterall, maybe we will never know - and thats the beauty of it.