Ideas to explore to possibly focus on in this class:

Journaling as writing:

This is a subject that interests me to use as a tool in the process of working with women in transition.  My definition of women in transition is women who are moving toward empowering their lives.  This transition may be learning to find the strength and skills to become independent for the first time, working to regain lost independence, or moving from striving to thriving.

In The Craft of Research the authors state that we write to remember more accurately, to understand and discover, and then to test and evaluate what we think (Booth, Columb and Williams 12-13).  They go on to state that when writing to understand, careful researchers do not wait until they have acquired all their data.  They write their ideas from beginning to end so that later they can evaluate their arguments and re-write when necessary.

In my humble opinion, it makes sense then, that when exploring one’s own life it would be helpful to write it down . . . to understand, to discover, to evaluate . . . in order to ‘re-write’ a more positive future.

In thinking about my personal focus for this course, I wonder, in relation to journaling as writing:

• would journaling my own thoughts while reading a book, such as One Month To Live, Living A No-Regrets Life (Shook, Chris and Shook, Kerry.  Doubleday 2008), or any book, be a good idea
• would researching the subject and writing a paper on the idea, uses, pros or cons be a good idea and where would I research the information?
• interview director of SPFC Women’s Residence and CEO of Florida Resurrection House for their thoughts
• begin a google or bing search and see where it leads
• search public library catalog and see what has (or not) been written on the subject

Memory Disorders Research 

Another area I might contemplate focusing on is the subject of memory disorders.  There is an interesting blog www.knittingdoc.wordpess.com written by a psychiatrist with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD).  I should be reading The 36-Hour Day (Mace, Nancy L. and Rabins, Peter V.  Johns Hopkins Press 2006) in addition to the seven or eight other books I need to read this semester.  I could write a research paper on a variety of topics in this area:  disease, caretaking, patient living / assisted living options).  However, (I hate that word should), I’d rather not spend my time thinking about this subject when it’s not necessary, since enough of the time it is necessary to think about.  Then again, might that be a way to double dip on time and responsibilities? Not that I am a slacker, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Nature Writing, Travel Writing 

Additionally, I enjoy nature and travel so, of course, nature writing and travel writing are options.  The only problem there is that I don’t anticipate any travel in my schedule this semester.  Of course, I have lived in Florida, California (briefly), Atlanta, Chicago and Manhattan, traveled frequently in Arizona, and do have information to draw on.

Nutritional Writing 

Another area of interest is nutritional writing.  There is a need for good articles on nutrition.  Most American’s have such poor diets, and juvenile diabetes is becoming an epidemic.  I truly believe the old adage is true “we are what we eat”.  (No dead animals on my pizza, thank you very much.) However, I am not a Registered Dietician (RD).  Then again, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Walter Cronkite School of Journalism has a special track for students interested in writing on nutrition.  There is no requirement to be a licensed RD to join that program, so not all nutrition writers are dieticians.

Film Criticism 

The focus of my Mass Communications Bachelor’s degree was my passion for film.  Film criticism writings would be a natural, except that right now my financial and time budgets probably will not allow me to view the amount of films necessary.

MBTI 

Another interest of mine is the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  This personality typing system was developed by Isabel Briggs Meyers and Peter B. Meyers as an expansion of theories first posed by Carl Jung.  The sytem measures, and types, personalities according to how one personally views the world and makes decisions.  I find the research and information fascinating!

Do to the information this system provided, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine actually changed their entrance exams.  They realized they were excluding many individuals who might become terrific family practitioners.  Their entrance exams were focused on the personality traits and skills of specialists.  Most specialists have distinct personality traits that allow them to learn and access information in a different manner than most family practitioners. 

The MBTI is a useful tool both in education and career counseling, as well as in personal development.  I was ‘typed’ years ago and found the process and information both fascinating and useful.  Much of the career paths that were suggested for my ‘type’ were what I naturally already knew were interests and career paths I believed I would love.  (Not finance!).  No surprises there; I knew myself better than I thought.  There were some big surprises though and learning about my ‘type’ not only gave me some ‘aha’ moments, it provided me with information to better recognize, and manage, times when I am personally stressed.  This year, over the university’s winter break, I hope to fit in the training to become a test administrator.  Perhaps I could read and research more on this topic and write a paper on my findings.

-- I am very familiar with Jungian based typology constructs within the field of personality psychology.  I have studied MBTI but have researched a similar typology originating in the former USSR called Socionics.  I wrote some on my main page under the Jung quotes.  It's interesting to find a similar interest on this one. --Heidi

Yoga – yes, well, how to incorporate my interest in yoga in this class, I have no idea.  There is a possibility that, next semester, I may only register for 3 credit hours at USFSP (Grant Writing) and instead of more academic courses I may utilize my time and finances to enroll in training to become a RYT200 (Registered Yoga Teacher 200 Hours of Yoga Alliance teacher training).  Maybe, maybe not.  Time will tell.

Short story - that might have been good had I arrived at this class with an idea

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