Personal Journal Evaluations - Assignment Example

Personal Journal Grade (Oct. 30th, Personal Journal Question Artifact Significance of artifact and what it may communicate Red sweater The red sweater reminds me of the year I turned 18 years old, since it was a gift from my uncle. The red sweater keep reminding me of the counsel I received regarding life and how I must approach it with optimism, which is what has kept me moving regardless different challenges of education. The red sweater may communicate that I am attached to items, since it is a bit old, and my friends may not understand why I still wear it. My brown leather wallet with my initials The brown leather wallet which I always carry has my initials in it, since it was custom-made for me. It reminds me of the Job that I first got after high school, where I used the first salary I earned from the job to have the wallet custom-made for me. The wallet might communicate a message that I love and feel proud of my name, since I have its initials inscribed on my wallet. My gold wrist watch My wrist watch hold a special place amongst my personal items, since it was given to me as a birthday present by my childhood friend who relocated from our state after our high school graduation, and his friendship spot has never been filled to present day. The wrist watch might communicate that I highly value gold watches, even though the real reason I always have it is because I loved my childhood friend very much and it always reminds me of him. Family Photograph in my wallet The family photograph in my wallet reminds me of my loving family and helps me to always keep emotionally attached to them. The photograph might communicate that I love and value my family very much, that is why I always have their photograph with me. A Thank You Card hanging in my room wall The ‘Thank You’ card reminds me of the voluntary services I offered at a hospice during my sophomore summer holiday, where I helped attend to old and terminally ill patients in a local hospital. The local hospital in turn sent me the ‘Thank You’ card as an appreciation of my effort and services. Question 2 a. Self-disclosure refers to a communication approach that entails an individual revealing personal information related to his/her history and the present, more so as related to emotions and thoughts (Zur, 2011). b. I regularly self-disclose to my childhood friend almost every issue that affects my life no matter how much confidential it might seem to be, since he does the same with me. The reason for self-disclosing to my friend is because we have grown up together and he knows virtually everything about my life, my family background and all the childhood activities and memories that I cherish. Having been of the same age, I and my childhood friend spent most of the times together since we hailed from the same neighborhood and attended same schools and church. I feel comfortable self-disclosing to him, since he has proven to be trustworthy and faithful, such that he keeps my secret and in return, I keep his. c. The benefit associated with self-disclosure is that it helps to relieve the mental burden of secrecy that keeps bothering the mind (Zur, 2011). Additionally, self-disclosure increases the love and trust between the two individuals involved, making it possible to deal with sensitive matters that might require interpersonal communication, yet get hindered by lack of sufficient trust. However, the risks associated with self-disclosure is the fact that it may cause great harm on the event that the person trusted with the personal and sensitive information chooses to breach the confidentiality requirement of self-disclosure and make the information public (Zur, 2011). d. At a time when I felt like running away from home due to a constant conflict with one of my siblings, I self-disclosed to my friend the plan I had, but instead of supporting me he came up with a strategy for mending our relationship. This way, the self-disclosure altered our negative relationship to a peaceful and cordial one. e. Mediated communication impacts my level of self-disclosure by reducing the amount of information I can share, since I only feel comfortable disclosing to one person, thus a third party causes reduced level of confidence in information disclosure. Affective Area a. I was once sited in a restaurant when two young men entered and sat atn the table next to mine, all the time talking about the events of the day in a very vulgar language, which did not feel alright for me, since curse words formed a high percentage of their spoken words. b. When I first joined high school, we were introduced into a language communication class, where interpersonal communication was the subject. Through learning the course, I was able to hold a respectable and formal communication with a company executive that eventually hired me for my communication skills. c. Once offended by a person’s use of words, it is better to inform them that it feels uncomfortable for you, and request them to use alternative wording. d. It is ethical to correct the use of sexist, racist or discriminating language, even when the person using the words is my employer or my professor. The ethicalness of an issue is judged based on the social norms and as such, regardless of the position held in the society, requiring people to adhere to the standards of social norm is acceptable. Thus, I will be ethical to ask them to adhere to the social norms. Behavioral Area a. I have learnt that I am an average listener, owing to the fact that I tend to respond to issues when I find it necessary, even when it might not be my turn. b. Trying to listen to more than on conversation at a time is an ineffective listening skill, which hinders comprehension of the intended messages (Radhakrishna, 2014). I have found myself listening to one conversation when I am supposed to be concentrating on the other, resulting in a situation where I need to request for the repeat of the communication or instructions later. Pre-occupation is yet another ineffective listening skill, which deters full concentration and understanding of a message (Radhakrishna, 2014). Whenever I am preoccupied with issues that are of concern to me, I tend to remember them in the middle of a conversation and consequently find my mind shifting away from the present issue, which may in turn reduce the level of understanding of the intended messages. c. Stop talking: this strategy can help me listen effectively, since it is through talking where I am not supposed to be talking, that poor listening and reception of the message being communicated to me occurs. Removing distractions: the removal of any distraction during a communication can allow me to focus only on one conversation, which will in turn enable me to understand the message being communicated to me. References Radhakrishna, S. (October 24, 2014). Effective Listening: 10 Barriers and How to Overcome Them. Bright Hub Project Management. Available at: http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/122339-effective-listening-10-barriers-and-how-to-overcome-them/ Zur, O. (2011). Self-Disclosure & Transparency in Psychotherapy and Counseling: To Disclose or Not to Disclose, This is the Question.  Retrieved November 1, 2014 from http://www.zurinstitute.com/selfdisclosure1.html Read More