Describing the Room

Foundation Year Student Gayle Rice has written a beautiful poem and first outlines her inspiration.

As part of our learning during week four of the Foundation in Transactional Analysis (TA) we learnt about frames of reference and were asked to do an exercise to explore the frames* we might be using.

The exercise was pretty straightforward; to write a description of the room we were sitting in, however like lots of the exercises we’re asked to do the results were intriguing. It turns out that the frames of reference different people in the group were using we decided could be called ‘estate agents’, ‘interior designers’ and ‘poets’, who describe the liminal spaces between people and the room.

This led to an interesting discussion about what frames of reference may have influenced our perspectives. We also asked questions about why we didn’t necessarily think or see things in the way that others did, and what this might mean to ourselves and when we work in a professional capacity.

I’ll leave my description with you and you can use your frames of reference to decide which group you think I identified with…

 

Describing the Room

It’s warm in here.

Soft and inviting and cuddly,

The colours are muted and warm, the tones are Scottish.

It’s dark in here.

A few bursts of bright light,

Which is muted again because we’re in the basement.

There are throws and cushions which are homely and comforting.

There are textures and fabrics that are tactile and offer comfort also.

There is lightness to the decoration, with coloured flags and abstract paintings

A lovely contrast to the deep rich holding of the textures and fabrics.

There are blinds that move with the heat of the radiator,

Sounding like Buddhist chimes,

Sounding intermittently and at odd times – awakening me from my concentration.

There are lights in the ceiling that are akin to a dentists surgery,

Brash and direct and likely unforgiving,

They’re never on,

Instead they offer a silver twinkle from the ceiling as the light reflects off the sliver metal surface.

The room is half filled with people, all silently thinking and writing, spread out for comfort.

 

* Frames of reference are described as the overall perceptual, conceptual, affective and action set which people use to define themselves, other people and the world (Schiff & Schiff, 1975). We tend to learn our frames of reference from our primary caretakers which can also influence what we think is good, bad, right, wrong, easy, difficult etc.