Topic 11 – Final Reflective Free Inquiry Blog Post

This semester in my exploration of 歐體style Chinese calligraphy, I documented my practice of 丶, ㇀, and 一 strokes, and I also practiced |, while trying to make space for quiet time in the busyness of the semester.

Being the end of the semester, it feels like spring is finally here. Throughout the semester, I’ve done most of my blog posts from the dim indoors of my bedroom, sitting at my desk, but this week the weather was so sunny and warm that I went outside and worked at my patio table for the first time all winter.

I can frequently be found drinking tea, and that is still the case today, as I decided to treat myself to a flowering tea that I was given for Christmas while doing calligraphy. The way the sunlight lit up the flower inside the pot really made it a beautiful sight, and contributed to the end of the inquiry project being a very relaxing and pleasant time.

This semester, I’ve sometimes struggled to stay on top of the weekly posts, despite them being relatively small and enjoyable assignments. I also found during my undergrad that small weekly assignments were an assessment format that I would struggle with. Looking back, I wish I had scheduled a consistent time into my week in which I would sit down and relax with brush in hand instead of fitting this inquiry project in whenever there was time for it. If I had, I believe my calligraphy would have improved much more, and I would have gained a predictable time of focused rest in an otherwise busy week.