Self-reflection is critical for DEI work
We’ve talked before about what can happen when trauma and power intersect and the things you can do in the moment to prevent yourself from causing harm by reacting in trauma when you align with power.
This is one of the reasons why self-reflection is critical in DEI work.
However, it’s critical for various reasons no matter how we align with contextual power and privilege.
Trauma responses or, more generally, “auto-responses” (when we are reactive rather than discerning) harm us as well as others. There’s an impact on our nervous system, a drain on our energy, and we are much more liable to make decisions and take actions that are out of alignment with our intentions or our values.
In fact, sometimes it’s our good intentions that cause the auto-responses that get in the way of our good intentions being realized, for example, when our defensiveness about our good intentions gets in the way of us being able to see the impact our actions are having that are out of alignment with our intentions.
Not only can this be confusing and exhausting for others, but it is very hard to create change in alignment with DEI when there is a culture of reactivity and/or key leaders who are very reactive.
Different people have different methods for self-reflecting, that might include:
Morning pages or journaling
Taking walks or exercising
Meditation
Verbal processing with family, friends, a coach, a therapist, mentors etc.
Some of the reasons to self-reflect include:
Managing/self-regulating your emotions and nervous system so you can de-escalate yourself as well as situations you find yourself in, identify potential blindspots and biases, and move towards more productive outcomes
Slowing down to make sure you are not jumping ahead and skipping steps (we often find in our work with organizations that people want to jump ahead to step 11 instead of slowing down to do steps 1-10 which then make step 11 much more successful)
Processing and integrating your knowledge so it moves from “head to heart to hands” ie bringing a power analysis to bridge from knowledge into action
I have tried many different forms and formats of self-reflection over the years. I have been doing morning pages for about 7 years now and it’s been a game-changer in all aspects of my life, but especially in my DEI work. This past year I have added swimming not just for movement and exercise but for further processing and reflection - I find the time so productive for gaining some distance, working out problems and coming up with ideas!
More recently, I am more intentionally keeping a running list of meetings and making sure I spend some of my morning journaling time reflecting on each one so that I am processing and integrating all the “data” (conversations) as well as culling any resulting action items and ideas. I have found there is so much more to be reaped from a meeting that would be lost if just left to float into the air when the zoom closes.
How have you or could you operationalize self-reflection into your life?
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