A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance. – TONY BUZAN
I use mind mapping in all my facilitation work (one-on-one, in group, with youth, in organizational meetings), in my work withcultureofcare.ca, or in my creative projects in order to:
create participant engagement, capture dialogue, make discovery, educate, gather data in order to write reports, address needs, develop customized workshops, deliver tools, and plan projects.
ENGAGEMENT
cultureofcare.caDIALOGUE
Beverley Pomeroy’s Living Grief Workshop, cultureofcare.caDISCOVERY
cultureofcare.ca
EDUCATE
Big Draw Vancouver Big Draw VancouverDATA
ADDRESS
WORKSHOPS
TOOLS
PROJECT PLANNING
Mind maps integrate both right-brain and left-brain thinking by capturing your stream of consciousness in a structured way. – Jennifer Lee
I also use mind mapping when I ingest information. It is a way to take non-linear notes, engage the whole brain and create one easy visual that allows me to remember what I read with a single glance at the completed map.
“Normal linear note taking and writing will put you into a semi-hypnotic trance, while mind mapping will greatly enhance your left and right brain cognitive skills.” – Tony Buzan
As I start to read, I write down main points and let them interact with each other, one leads to the next, one might direct you to another area etc.
Once I get the overall main points, then I add more detailed notes (this can evolve overtime), and though from your point of view, the result may look chaotic… for me, the map makes sense to me as I remember physically creating the whole map. In one glance, I can recall ALL the material that I read.
Then I gather related material to develop and enhance.
Keeping the mind maps for future reference is useful! For example the business plan mind map I created in 2013, which helped my daughter and I produce a highly praised business plan, is being pulled out this week to utilize it on another project. IT ALL RELATES and EVOLVES.
Mind maps integrate both right-brain and left-brain thinking by capturing your stream of consciousness in a structured way. – Jennifer Lee
CREATIVE MIND MAPPING
Mind maps are essentially visual diagrams. They can act as a type of journal or personal exploration, or a tool for strategic inquiry or project planning. The possibilities are vast and endless. You will find that mind maps are a way to envision and put into practice your intention. This intention is thereby transformed into fruition. The process is not just an idealistic visualization but an actualization.
Mind mapping is about strategic inquiry.
Mind mapping is VISUAL STORYTELLING.
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For me, mind mapping is a tool to move all the churning ideas and voices out of my head onto paper in order to organize my thoughts and to quiet my mind. I gain perspective; I can start to strategize and prioritize or make new realizations and connections. I can develop, or pare down. I gain new insight on what direction works, what direction doesn’t, what I can cross off, what I can add.
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I love the visual. I love the tangible. I love the evolving mind map. I love looking at old ones and seeing what worked and what didn’t. Mind maps allow me to create a mission and a vision statement more easily.
MIND MAPPING is how I formulated my personal mission statement:
“My mission is to awaken creative expression through local and global art initiatives.”
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I use mind maps for:
• emotional exploration
• project planning
• priority assessment
• anxiety processing
• gathering support
• story structure
• character development
• journaling
• mission and vision building
• creative strategic inquiry
• graphic recording
• meeting notes
• deep listening
MIND MAP FOR CREATING THE BOOK: DRAWN TOGETHER
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Mind maps can help you become more creative, remember more, and solve problems more effectively. – Melanie Pinola
PART 4 OF 7: Prioritizing/consolidating/connecting
So once you have spewed out your thoughts all out onto your large paper:
Color code the bubbles— don’t overthink this. Just circle the items that seem to relate to each other. Just very loosy goosy…
Start drawing arrows to items that relate to each other more… How do they CONNECT? This is a “thinking out loud” exercise as you pay attention to what part of the map excites you, what part you know needs priority, what part is a distraction…
Now redraw the map as it reflects the REORGANIZATION of your stream-of-consciousness one…
Make “out loud” notes onto your map. Converse with yourself. Be honest. What is truly your passion? Essential PRIORITY? What can be removed? What is the BIG PICTURE?
Now strip it down. CONSOLIDATE to the top three categories.
CONSOLIDATION requires getting rid of excess. Some of this excess is not anything definable but rather energetic information both useful and non-useful that has been collected and stored in the energy system waiting for integration. Too much psychic information can feel like a burden; overwhelming, unfocused and irritating.
PRIORITIES need a clear space to settle into. So clear some space, consolidate your energetic resources and allow what’s important to prioritize itself in your life. – The Power Path August 2015 Monthly Forecast
Remember- this can be a personal reflection exercise, or a project planning exercise etc. It is all really the same principal.
In your journal start writing out categories, to-do’s, items, whatever comes to mind that you are grappling with right now. Or if you are focusing on a specific project, business idea, story – whatever- write down all that comes to mind regarding the project. Should other items pop up, write those down too, even if unrelated. You are just spewing it all out onto paper. This is chaos-onto-paper time. Just keep the pen moving. Trivial things can turn out to be important.
Now transfer these bubbles onto a large sheet. Don’t worry too much where they are placed, though you can somewhat place them in related groups if you wish.
We are not making connections today. We are just spewing it all out!
Sometimes this process is really easy. Sometimes, like for me tonight, it’s very hard. It’s a shitty evening. That’s OK. I forced the process anyway in order to get the buzz out of the mind. I need to sort my next steps and this process always helps!
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. A mind map is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank landscape page, to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added. Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those.
Mind maps can be drawn by hand, either as “rough notes” during a lecture, meeting or planning session, for example, or as higher quality pictures when more time is available.
Mind maps are considered to be a type of spider diagram.A similar concept in the 1970s was “idea sun bursting”.
For me, mindmapping is a tool to move all the churning ideas and voices out of my head onto paper, in order to organize my thoughts and to quiet my mind. I gain perspective; I can start to strategize and prioritize or make new realizations and connections. I can develop, or pare down. I gain new insight on what direction works, what direction doesn’t, what I can cross off, what I can add. I love the visual. I love the tangible. I love the evolving mindmap. I love looking at old ones and seeing what worked and what didn’t. I can create a mission and a vision statement more easily.
Mindmaps can be personal, or done in a group, with a group, for a group. You can mindmap alone. You can mindmap for someone else as they dialogue. It is a great listening tool.
They can act as a type of journal, or therapy, or a tool for strategic inquiry or project planning. The possibilities are vast and endless. I use many kinds like:
I use a variety of kinds of mindmapping styles like the familiar linking or bubbles, or making lists, making scribbles on a torn piece of paper or more elaborate panels.
Looking back on them, I can shed a tear or crack a smile at their ridiculous complexity:
And sigh in relief when I get to the core of it:
Homework:
Write for 15 minutes in your journal about what you might want to mindmap about this week. Don’t overthink. JUST KEEP WRITING. There is no right or wrong.
INSIDE OUT PROJECT: OWN YOUR JOURNEY- Breaking the cycle of violence through creativity
Inside Out Project – Own Your Journey SUMMER 2015is a three week intensive arts-based program running out of Mountainside Secondary School (July 6-24, 2015) for youth ages 13-20 that uses the vehicles of therapeutic art, photography and stop motion animation to teach life and transferable skills while developing self-empowerment, peer to peer interaction, community connections and by providing tools to make healthy, non-violent choices. The goal for Inside Out is to help students address the root causes of violence (with a special focus on violence against women) through creative expression. The program allows students to creatively reflect on self, to work in a team and to experience critical engagement and transformative changes that shift their attitudes and behaviors in order to prevent violence. Three experienced facilitators (Ian Powell, Erin Ross, Kat Thorsen) provide instruction and support.
Day 3, July 8, 2015: Animation and anatomical hearts LINK
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Day 4 and 5: Digging in deeper.
We were busy last few days! Hands-On Animation Tests, Public Service Announcement Discussions, Mind Mapping, Shane Koyczan TEDTalk, Project Planning, Therapeutic Arts and Crafts, Dialoguing, Creative Process etc…
What I love seeing unfold are the connections forming within the group.
Here are some highlights from Day 4 and 5: —
I sit before flowers hoping they will train me in the art of opening up
I stand on mountain tops believing that avalanches will teach me to let go
I know nothing
but I am here to learn.
― Shane Koyczan
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It has quickly become apparent that this is our hub/dialogue/creativity table. We move back and forth naturally between the computer lab and this room where we do old fashioned handmade stuff and group dialogue/mindmapping.
It hurts to stretch your wings. But doesn’t it hurt even more to let them atrophy?
You can survive without Creativity. But you won’t ever come fully alive & unapologetically yourself, unless you practice it, every damn day. – Andréa Balt, Creative Rehab
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Next week we begin our group animation project! Stay tuned!
An extension of the Inside Out Project Own Your Journey at Mountainside Secondary 2014-2015, the animation portion- spearheaded by my colleague and dear friend, Ian Powell- engaged students in a deep and meaningful way. Ian chose The Red Tree by Shaun Tan as the vehicle to help students address social and emotional intelligence, self-reflection and empowerment as well as project planning and passion-based learning. Students worked individually or in small groups to interpret and animate each page of the dark and remarkable book:
The Red Tree is a story without any particular narrative; a series of distinct imaginary worlds as self-contained images which invite readers to draw their own meaning in the absence of any written explanation. As a concept, the book is inspired by the impulse of children and adults alike to describe feelings using metaphor – monsters, storms, sunshine, rainbows and so on. Moving beyond cliché, I sought painted images that might further explore the expressive possibilities of this kind of shared imagination, which could be at once strange and familiar. A nameless young girl appears in every picture, a stand-in for ourselves; she passes helplessly through many dark moments, yet ultimately finds something hopeful at the end of her journey. Shaun Tan – source
Congratulations to all who worked on the piece. Your interpretations are breathtaking and your dedication to the project an inspiration!
Shaun Tan’s The Red Tree, Mountainside Secondary School 2015:
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