Purpose: Participants both individually reflect on their lived experience and share with others to connect with their own stories in a different way and connect more deeply with each other.
Activity Overview: Participants individually create a "life map" that represents the people, places, and experiences that have led them to where they are today. Life maps can be drawn however someone chooses - there is no right way to depict a person's individual journey. After individual work time, in small groups participants take turns sharing some components of their life maps with each other, with a focus on active and open listening. The facilitator wraps up with a group check-in/debrief on how they felt about the activity and what they learned from it.
- Who traveled the farthest to get here today?
- Our journeys are more than just literally how we got here in this room today - they include all the places where we've spent time, the people we've known or been influenced by, and the experiences we've had.
- Now is our chance to each create our own "life map" - a visual that shares your journey to where you are today. There's no "right way" to do this, so you might want to make a map, or a timeline, or a completely different visual way to represent it, but the idea is to include the things that have contributed to who and where you are now.
- We know this could include some negative experiences as well, and we'll also each be sharing our maps with the group, so if there's anything you don't feel comfortable putting on your map for others to see, it's ok to leave it off.
- Your first step will be to grab a piece of paper for your map and add your sticky notes to it. The aim is to include those sticky notes in some way in your map. You can literally leave them on the paper, or you can take them off and add the words or draw something to depict them -- any of those is ok.
- (Check in at the 5, 10, 15-minute marks -- when folks are "done enough" transition them to sitting in a circle with their maps, away from the tables, so they can all see each other.)
- Everyone will now have (3) minutes to share some aspects of your life map out loud with the group. You don't need to share everything, but please tell us some key pieces that you think have helped make you who you are today. (Adjust sharing time as needed)
- While someone is sharing, the rest of us will practice our active listening skills - part of showing up for each other is really listening when someone else is talking, especially when they're sharing something personal.
- (After everyone shares, conduct debrief discussion - start with everyone sharing responses with a partner first before sharing with full group to get them warmed up if needed)
