I thought this was an important section because it stresses that we reflect upon ourselves and realize the strengths and growth we have achieved. It is easy to beat yourself over something and to lose sight of what you may have gained from a particular experience. Self-actualization needs bring out the positives that you would have otherwise forgotten about. To continually strive towards developing our talents and potential, we must first recognize ourselves.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Concept from Week # 1
A concept from this week’s reading that really struck me was self-actualization needs. Maslow defines self-actualization as “fully developing and using our unique ‘talents, capacities, potentialities’” (Wood, p. 14). As individuals, assessing and recognizing our skills and growth is important because it reinforces things like self-esteem and survival. It is a way for us to learn new things and expand the dimensions of our mind, heart, and spirit. Wood asserts that communication, either through therapists, friends, family, and co-workers foster our personal growth. As a way of self-reflection through our communications with others, we come to recognize traits in ourselves. Other ways to exercise self-actualization might be through online chat rooms where we are not inhibited by our age, gender, or race. Important historical figures like Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. inspired self-actualization through their teachings.
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ReplyDeleteHello Flora Winter,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I enjoyed this part of the chapter as well and I had read about this before in a Psychology course once. I like how you mentioned that we recognize traits in ourselves when we communicate with others. We learned that communication with others helps us with our personal growth, which is one of the reasons I am so interested in learning about communication now. I think that before I was still growing as a person and did not understand a lot about myself, but now I feel positive and focused in the direction I am headed. I feel that I have changed a lot in my current relationship because I am with a person who loves good communication. She always encourages open and honest communication and in the past I would close myself off when I felt hurt or down about anything. I have really grown in to myself and with that I feel that I am much better at communication and in my studies.