Exploring the people that make up our world

Previous / Next

Relationships
Part 8 - Exploring the people that make up our world

In this section, you will find a number of exercises that will help you to explore your relationships with those that make up your world.

Three-island exercise

1. You are invited to draw three islands. The first, biggest island will go in the middle of the page. This is your island. The second island is smaller than the first island and is joined to the first island by some kind of draw-bridge that allows you to control the movement of people from the smaller island to your island. The third island is smaller still and is far away from your island. It’s called Shark Island and is surrounded by sharks.
2. Once you have drawn these three islands, your task is to decide which people in your life are going on what island. Starting with yourself, you can either draw everyone as a stick person or you can write down their name or their initials. You can share your own island with whoever you want. They could be living or dead. They could be cats or dogs. They could be anyone or anything.

Now do the same for the second island. Please note that anyone who is placed on the smaller island can only come to your island when you say so, and they have to leave when you tell them it is time to. When it comes to Shark Island, whoever you put here is never going to leave the island, because if they tried to they would be eaten alive by the sharks. So, whoever you put on this island will never, ever, be able to get to your island.
3. When you have completed this exercise, take some time to reflect on what you have done. What was it like doing it? Was it easy? Hard? Did it surprise you? How did it make you think and feel about the people in your life? If you haven’t put many people on your island, is that okay, or would you like to be able to welcome more people? If there are lots of people on your island, are you okay with that or would you prefer to have more independence? And what of the people on the smaller island? What do they mean to you? Do you wish some of them could be closer to you? And then there is Shark Island. Did you put anyone on this island? If you did, what was it like cutting them off from your world?

Exploring relationships through animals

Using animals can be an interesting way of working out your relationships with other people.
Firstly, using the stereotypical characteristics of animals, can you link all of the people you know, including yourself, to the animal that most represents their temperament? If you do not wish to use the characteristics below, you can always make up your own as you go along.
Dog = obedient
Pig = stubborn
Bats = evil
Bear = dopey
Beavers = hard-working
Sheep = conformists
Donkey = lazy
Owl = wise
Fox = cunning
Horse = strong
Hyena = hysterical
Lion = brave
Secondly, thinking about your own relationship to each person you know, might both of you adapt your character (and thereby your animal representation) when you are with them? [If you have read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, you will be aware that the daemon spirit of each child character changes animal appearance depending on who they are with.]

Continue reading

This interactive workbook and many more are avaliable free at My Self Detective:

Log in / Sign up / Go back

Previous / Next