Reflection...

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It’s one of those odd phenomenon in everyday life that things get established and become part of our everyday existence and then in time you become aware that they have faded to the point where they have almost slipped away entirely…

A little dramatic perhaps but it’s occurred to me in the early stages of the new year that in amongst all the heady preparations for Christmas shows the older companies have to some extent lost their ability and desire to reflect…so this blog is sent out to you in the hope that it reminds you if the value in meaningful reflection and inspires you with the confidence and interest to start engaging in it more often…

So…firstly, “Why reflect?” simple really without thinking what we’ve done we just do the same thing over and over again with no chance of improving, developing, moving forward, knowing more, furthering understanding etc etc etc.  We repeat the same mistakes, revisit the same frustrations, follow the same paths regardless of whether they lead us anywhere useful.  At Yew Tree we try and create opportunities for this to be avoided…by simply asking you to think about the process by which a piece is reached, or the performance or the impact of something you observe you are given the chance to reflect on your experience and share your discoveries with those who went through the experience with you.  What’s more we give so many opportunities to do this…in the sessions themselves, on the various social networking sights and in reading and indeed writing the weekly blogs…there’s a wealth of chances to be taken advantage of…

This brings us to the second aspect of my proposition…having the confidence and interest to reflect.  Firstly you should know that when I ask for your thoughts I am genuinely interested, I actually want to know. Secondly it’s not as tricky as it might seem…all you have to do is think about what you liked/didn’t like, what discovery you’ve made or something you’re not quite sure about and voice it with a reason for your thoughts…you shouldn’t worry about trying to encompass the whole of something in your reflection…just as aspect of it will do very nicely…you also shouldn’t be worried about being correct or wrong either…all you need to do is be prepared to engage in discussion with people who may or may not agree with you…a discussion with people who think differently but who are open enough to debate is invaluable…

Be brave, have an opinion in rehearsals and workshops and be courageous enough to talk about it, or even write about it and generous enough to share it with others…engage in the process of individual and joint reflection and everyone’s a winner…hurray for such things…

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