It's good to talk

One thing that is challenging about this course is that although, reading other students blogs and receiving advice from the discussion group has eased my nervousness and quelled my feelings of ‘I’m all alone in this’; when I’m sat in my dining room by myself, trying to figure it out; it is hard to push that aside. Last night I was writing about the positives and negatives of Web 2.0 (which you will see soon); I was part way through writing about a time I was seeking advice about a particular job when I realised although it is part of Facebook, is their messenger service actually classed as Web 2.0? Therefore, although I knew I was getting to a point about being influenced by other dancers, was it actually relevant to the tool I was researching? By definition, yes it is a two way communication through the internet but it’s closer to texting I feel, rather than one author presenting information with the option for others to provide feedback.

In this moment, I realised I thought I was making progress but potentially hit a dead end once again. I had to talk to someone about this so I turned to my family. I thought even if I they can’t solve my problem, I just needed to ‘get it out there’. 

I do actually enjoy writing, considering I don’t do much of it day to day; so I think each of these blogs feel a like a mini accomplishment, getting me ready for the end goal. However I realised last night I make more progress if I properly discuss my ideas first, even if the receiver doesn’t provide much feedback. Vocalising my thoughts last night made me realise the reason I’ve struggled to divide them up is because they’re all probably linked. I was talking about one anecdote I was using for ways of communication but I soon realised this moment was a significant learning curve for me and that person influenced me more than I realised. So do I use it when discussing communication or influence or both?

I generally consider myself to have a sense of self awareness. Networking, Communication, Web 2.0, Transferable skills, Professional etiquette etc, I honestly could give a range of examples where someone in my industry has influenced and shaped the artist I am today. But when prompted with the thought of ‘how does your practice affect you now?’ I exasperatedly said, “Nothing! I’m not doing anything now!” Which, as you can imagine, isn’t true. Yes my emotions are fuelled by the current climate of not being able to do what I really want to do; however, after discussing it I realised I have more to offer right now than I thought I did (I will bring these examples to you soon).

Overall my point is, no my parents aren’t trained in this field but by explaining it to them, out loud, in my own words has given me a boost of confidence by realising I understand this module more than I thought I did. I am fortunate to have the experiences I’ve had, therefore I believe I have the tools available to reach the end goal; I’m just currently learning how to use them. We finished the conversation with “It’s good to talk” and I went to bed thinking about blog posts, theories and lenses- how I do most nights now!

P.S. Whilst this blog post has been sat in the drafts, I've been talking out loud about my findings for Web 2.0 and already it has sparked some useful internal questions. So it is even good to talk to yourself if your can't talk to anyone else!