Sample Journal
This is an example of a journal reflection responding to the Week 3 journal prompt. Notice the presence of a reflective view on how the author’s perspective is changing, as well as dialogue about how they are progressing. We find it to be a quality reflection, of appropriate length:
“After so much time the last few weeks assessing my yard, it is very exciting to start thinking about how I can make it into my vision! It has been good looking closely at some of the aspects of my yard that I hadn’t thought about before, also how I have very little evidence of outside critters. This makes me feel lucky compared to what some of the others have to deal with.
I have decided to try and keep a notebook for all my garden design thoughts, even though it feels very intimidating to see all those blank pages. I have begun collecting clippings of plants I like from my friend’s gardens and it is starting to fill up a few pages. It is a lot less scary than drawing them, and its good to have a collection of plants to chose from and see the contrast in colors against a white page. There is a lot of difference in plant tones I had never noticed before. Its very interesting and I am excited to see it translate to my garden beds.
The assignments this week have been very challenging, especially trying to find the time when I am at work during the week, but thankfully in summer I have some moments of daylight even after dinner to go outside and take a look around, also to take pictures. I must say my senses have really opened to the way people think (or don’t think at all!) about what their garden space will be. I have a new appreciation for things I had thought was random plantings but now understand how much planning it takes. I am trying not to have any doubts about my own abilities and focusing on the fact that this is not a ‘product’ but an ever-changing thing I am making. This is both intimidating and frankly, extremely exciting. I am trying to be patient in seeing where this goes and how all these new concepts begin to take shape in my design actions and decisions. It is challenging as well to design on the trace paper. I have gone through several sheets and never really got to any concrete ideas. I think, knowing I have tried to plan a space where I lived before and knowing I was never really happy with it, I have a lack of self-confidence. I think I was unsure of how to correct my mistakes last time, and with this space I am determined to work through them and figure out where I went wrong. I definitely feel like I am gaining a bit of a new vocabulary and may be on the path to being able to deal with what comes up.
I will give the trace another go tomorrow morning, since my thoughts seem to flow best at the beginning of the day. We’ll see what I come up with!”