At the end of the project, the team and I were able to increase engagement by 2600% in the month of March by posting multiple times a week, as well as promoting our posts through the stories tool on Instagram. Something important that I learned from this project was how important it is to have open communication with all members involved in the project, particularly about deliverables. I found that sometimes my ideas would get lost in translation, and so it was important for me to recognize this and, if I felt necessary, schedule a meeting with my community partner and team members in order to solve this issue. I found that by ensuring communication was clear and open, it was much more manageable to have deliverables to be produced in a timely manner with much less confusion. Additionally, all members of the project ultimately left happy and satisfied with the final deliverables and results, and I do believe that our communication was a key component of that. Below, I have attached two of the six posts that were published on the NATUR&D instagram page as part of the project.
On Friday March 25, I had the opportunity to participate in a Reflection and Place workshop as part of the CEL program. This was a fantastic experience. The group and I started in the Finnerty Gardens, where we each were tasked with wondering around the garden in contemplative silence and to choose up to 15 items from the garden. We were prompted to observe what we were felt, seen, and heard by while walking around the gardens, and then journaling any other reflections that we had. After, the group and I went to the Hickman building at UVic where we were told to simply pain the colours of what we collected. It could be as abstract as we wanted, but the instructor wanted us to focus on those beautiful colours collected from nature. I really enjoyed the whole process of this workshop and found myself to become completely destressed while painting. I came to realize that I need to take more time like I did on Friday to sit and contemplate my surroundings, appreciate the beauty of them, and to maybe even record them. I love glass painting, journaling, and taking photos on my film camera, and so this workshop reinspired me to get back into these activities that I enjoy doing when I am not studying. Below I have attached my completed art piece that I did during the painting portion of this workshop. While I would not call myself Picasso per se, I still really enjoyed this workshop and am looking forward to implementing contemplation and appreciation of nature more into my everyday life.
