Creating my universe

Just the other day I was talking with my VEOLI buddies (Visualizing End-of-Life Issues) about where we are in our development as a collaborative/group/organization. We’ve been engaged in a low-key version of the 5D Appreciative Inquiry Design process…

• Defining what are we seeking to achieve—our topic and scope
• Discovering what we appreciate about our work to date—as individuals and as a group
• Dreaming about what we want to become (knowing that we have different interests and perspectives)
• Designing some experiments (social media, collaborations, offering workshops)
• Delivering what will be

What about you? 

As the half-year mark approaches, what are you appreciating about what you are doing and where you are in your universe?

We began discussing how we fit into the existing professions, organizations, and niches that comprise end-of-life care and work. I volunteered to draft initial ideas and then ask VEOLI members to review, add, change, delete or re-imagine the draft. Initially, I thought I’d start with all the organizations and professions that we had been naming and see how we fit into what they do. When I put the pencil to iPad, I started instead with us, and all of our capabilities and interests. I have created the first draft, though I may completely re-envision it before sharing. We’ll see!

If you were going to create a visual about yourself in your universe, what would it look like?

What is your foundation? What do you appreciate about your work?

What ideas will you explore to determine in what ways you will move forward?

I decided to dig into the question of my current universe… as I’m feeling so many changes afoot in the work that I do. My first draft was completely literal, black and white (so I just had to add a yellow background!)—just get the ideas out of my head and onto the canvas. It is informative and rather uninspiring. Of course, as I was drawing it, I started to think of another way to represent my ideas that felt fun and exciting… so that’s next up for me. Here’s a sketch of the ideas I am going to draw out in the next few days… My path for moving forward—even if that path is in the stars!