Conversation Beyond Words

These are BioGraffs that people have made. They have agreed to share them anonymously with the BioGraffs community. Sometimes, seeing how other people have made their BioGraffs, can help you see how you can tell your own story visually.

Descriptions of what story the BioGraff seems to be telling is my own interpretation.

It is included as an aid to understanding, and may not be what the creator intended.

The Social Brain

This BioGraff shows the internal experience of the maker having a hard time in a social situation. They are showing how they feel engaged and curious on the inside, but oppressed by their ever-present inner critic, and the distraction of intrusive thoughts. The two wings coming out to both sides are the result of the black and blue cubes: losing the thread of the conversation because they are distracted by thoughts, getting bored, missing opportunities to contribute, and feeling disconnected as a result.

Mother of an Anxious Child

This was made by a woman who is struggling to help her son who is dealing with anxiety. In the process of making of she had several important insights. Click on the button to see her interpretation of her own BioGraff.

WATCH

Contemplating Career Change

This was made by a 55-year-old man who is contemplating a career change. Green is connection. He shows the three things he most values about his job: connection, ability to help others, and feeling competent; and how those 3 things will decrease as he makes a transition. And how this is scary. He hopes for the future to have increased levels of all the things he values most. In the process of talking about this BioGraff, he found some clarity on where his fear was coming from, as well as what is important to him.

What I Like

This woman shows what she values in a sexual experience. In the center are all the activities that are most important to her. These are surrounded and enclosed by presence and love. I don't know what meaning it holds that some of the cubes are outside the circle - that would be a good place to bring curiousity into the sharing of this image and talking about it. Why did you put these 2 clusters outside? What does this grouping mean? This would give her an opportunity to expound on the relative importance of these things, and just generally share more about what she wants.

Things That Make Me Feel Secure

A twenty-something woman thinks about what is important to her in a relationship. This one is interesting because I asked her to make a BioGraff just to get some footage of BioGraff-making in action for a crowd-funding campaign, and even though I was directing her, she managed to have a spontaneous mini-revelation about her needs in her relationship. Click on the watch button to see.

WATCH

Grief

This is a BioGraff about how a woman is coping with her grief after the death of her mother. Click watch to see the creator talking about what her BioGraff means, and some valuable insights she gained.

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Life Choices

A twenty-something man thinks about his choices for the future. The group of cubes on the left is relative proportions of the things he values, in his ideal future life. Then he thought about how those values would manifest differently depending on three different paths he sees before him: going to grad school, getting a job in his field, or choosing a life of commercial fishing and seasonal travel.

Click watch to see him talk about his BioGraff

WATCH

Honesty in a Relationship

This BioGraffer explored how she shows up differently in different kinds of interactions, including relationships and hookups.

It represents a lot of self-awareness, and a jumping off point for exploration of how she can bring some of that ease in expressing herself that she experiences in some situations into the more fulfilling and intimate situations of a relationship.

Interpreting this BioGraff -- it compares three social interactions (relationships, hookups, being harassed) and the relative ease she has being honest. In a relationship, she experiences the most happiness, but has the hardest time expressing herself. It's easier to feel comfortable and express herself in a low-stakes hook-up. It is very easy to express her unhappiness when she's being harassed.