Rewind And Grow

For the first time since beginning the practice of reviewing my posts from three or more years ago on the same date, my reflections from both March 28 of 2011 and 2012 felt worth a re-visit. If you keep a journal, why not join me and see if what was on your mind on any past March 28 has remained with you? I'll feel better knowing at least one person was with me on this solipsistic rewind.

On the two presenting issues from five and four years ago today - limiting my use of labels and paying less attention to needing approval in the creative domain - my progress has been fitful. For the former, occasional opportunities to do anti-oppression work, consistent reading, and developing courses on music - forcing me to look at how I label even something I love desperately - have each contributed to some halting growth. How do you guard against letting labels limit your perceptions? 

It's harder to measure my progress with the second issue, though I did take some of my own advice from the March 28 2012 post and traded some of that need for creative approval with more attention to my grooming; there's still room for more growth there. Now, when I label less, my spoken and written language changes in ways noticeable even to me. But my ongoing conversation about creative approval is more internal. So, I'm more likely to notice only the outward manifestations of exactly what I'm trying to avoid, i.e. when speaking to others and seeking their approval! See what I mean about fitful progress? What strategies do you use to lessen your need for approval, creative or otherwise?

http://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2011/03/labels-limits.html

http://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2012/03/time-for-trade.html