A Gentle New Year’s Reflections and Visioning Practice

Happy New Year!

In such a monumentally symbolic time of year, especially THIS year, making time to reflect and visualize feels…a little overwhelming. 

What if I don’t have time to do a deep dive? Taking 15 minutes could be exactly what you need.

What if I don’t ask myself all the right questions? The questions you do ask yourself will be exactly right.

What if I’m not creating something deserving of the gravitas of this moment as we depart from 2020? Sometimes simple is the most elegant. 

Which is why I’ve decided to ask myself the same questions I have for the past few years – and share them with you in a fresh design to fill in:

• What have I accomplished this year? 

• What am I grateful for?

• What am I letting go of? 

• What am I opening up to?

• What do I want to attract in my life this year?

For me, taking any amount of time, whether it’s a few minutes or a few hours, around each new year to reflect and focus my energy for the coming calendar year feels powerful and uplifting. Energy flows where attention goes. 

It’s an opportunity to create clarity for myself among a world of unknowns. It’s creating space to center – that center we can all return to and tap into during the moments of cray cray. 

If you’d like more ConverSketch ideas for New Years visioning, here’s the archive from 2020, 2019, and 2017. If a template feels too prescriptive, check out my favorite tips for creating your own custom vision board.

If you’re ready for a deeper dive, Sarah Firth has created a gorgeous digital download or printed workbook to fill in throughout the whole year. There are even two different covers to choose from and color!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, 

Where in the Virtual World is ConverSketch?

Resting  Happy Winter!

Getting ready for the virtual National Council on Science and the Environment + Drawdown next week. The theme is Research to Action and I’m looking forward to seeing researchers and practitioners connecting! 

Ready for 2021? Let’s explore how graphic recording can help make meetings better - even virtual ones!

What Every Event Organizer Wants to Hear & How to Make it Happen

No matter what your job is, there’s a good chance you’ve had to organize some sort of meeting. And if you haven’t, you probably will. Whether it’s a regular small-team meeting or a massive annual conference, there’s often a lot more work put into organizing a well-run event.

So, first of all, for all you event organizers out there, I raise a glass to you and all the work behind-the-scenes or otherwise un-thanked you do!

Next, if you’re organizing a meeting/gathering/convening/conference/event/show, I want to give you something. Have you ever heard someone at an event you organized say something like…

“This was unforgettable!”

“This was the BEST conference I’ve ever attended!”

“I got SO MUCH out of that meeting!”

“I can’t WAIT to use what I learned with the rest of my team!”

...or even a simple “THANK YOU!”

These are just a few things you, as an organizer may be yearning to hear or overhear. Why? Those things mean your participants felt valued, saw something from a new perspective, that they were present and engaged, and that you’ve helped them do their jobs or live their lives better. And while there are heaps of ways you can create an event that is meaningful and participants love, I’ve got one sure-fire way to get people fired up (in a good way).

Bring in a graphic recorder.

Having someone visually scribing the content, listening for connections, or even for what’s not being said can catapult participants from looking at their phone screens under the table, to wondering how their ideas can be incorporated into the mural being created. Seeing visual summaries of conversations and discussions moves groups from “My idea” to “Our vision” and “Actions I can take”. It can give them tangible stepping stones to take what they learned and move forward, or help unravel a previously complex and mystifying topic.

So, the next time your team is starting to plan an important event, consider a graphic recorder, facilitator or scribe to support your participants, honor their time, and help them do the best thinking they can.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina

Want to hear “You’re the BEST organizer I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with!” from your clients? Let’s talk about blowing their minds!

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Turning Dull Trainings into Delightful Drawings: The US Forest Service has to deal with a lot of challenging situations; if you live in the Western US, you probably know about the prolific wildfires this year. But did you also know the USFS is responsible for hazardous waste spills and clean up? I’m working to help explain the complexity of Spill Response Coordinators and how they work with other agencies when things get leaky. Here's a chart from the initial brainstorming session I facilitated.

Digital Scribing for ShapingEDU: Last spring I attended the ASU UnConference for on the future of higher education, technology, and meaningful learning for students. I'm in awe of how the organizers have carried the incredible energy of the 100+ participants forward into monthly video calls with participants from around the world on topics from the in-person event. The engagement was astounding, and I got to do live digital scribing while screen-sharing!

Editing Cave: Working on the final video for the Wildfire Risk Management Science Team, who use advanced mapping tools to help managers and responders make safer and more effective decisions about when and where to mitigate a wildfire.

Happy New Year from ConverSketch

Hello!

I hope this finds you rested and enjoying time with loved ones this holiday season. I am full of appreciation for the incredible clients I’ve had the pleasure and honor of working with this year. I am in awe of all the groups doing important work I’ve been in the room to support visually.

Even though the holidays can be a busy time, I love the quiet reflection afforded by long nights or the muted quiet of the earth blanketed with gently falling snow. Each year around this time, I like to spend time reflecting on my business and life: what worked, what I’d like to change, and putting my vision for the next year on paper – here’s a post about my visioning process and inspiration.

I also have the pleasure of taking students from Colorado State University on a two-week volunteer tourism trip to Samburu, Kenya each year over their winter break. We leave tomorrow and will be spending our time learning about a completely different culture, working with a Women’s Village called Unity to build huts or shade structures (whatever they need!), teaching in the primary school (more or less), working with youth who have received scholarships to attend secondary school and celebrating recent graduates, and taking children on wildlife-viewing drives to talk about the importance of conservation. This place and these people are incredibly important to me and as part of ConverSketch’s values, I serve on the advisory board of the Samburu Youth Education Fund which provides the aforementioned scholarships, as well as make donations each year to supporting the youth and entrepreneurial endeavors of Unity Women’s Village and their beading.

Although the access to connectivity and technology in this rural community has grown over the seven years I’ve been visiting, wi-fi still isn’t reliable or pervasive, and I won’t have cell service while we’re in Archer’s Post. I’ll be responding to any messages after January 12th, 2018. Thanks in advance for your patience!

Wishing you and yours a New Year filled with Abundance, Joy, Light, Laughter, Adventure and Love.

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.

Cheers, Karina

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

Arizona State University Technology Office

I spent the day in Tempe working with the new leadership team for ASU’s Office of Technology as they defined their vision, values and how they wanted to work together to move from a group to a rockin’ team.

In the Video Studio

I’ve been working with the Wildfire Research Team (WiRe) for the past year developing a series of videos about their work to help communities become more fire adapted. The last video of the series is in the final stages of approval, and I’ll look forward to sharing the series in the beginning of 2018!

ConverSketch Challenge: What's Your Vision for Success in 2016?

Hello ConverSketchers!
 
This is my last email to you beautiful people…for 2015. This year has been beyond what I imagined and I want to take a moment to appreciate each of you for your support, for pushing your drawing comfort zone and giving one of these doodles a try, and for your big hearts and kind words. ConverSketch would not be what it is without this amazing community and the work you’re each doing to make the world a better place. Cheers to you!
 
2015 has been a big year for ConverSketch for a number of reasons...
- It's my first full calendar year being 100% self-employed as a graphic recorder
- I got to graphic record en espanol for the first time in Mexico
- 2015 has been the most abundant year yet for ConverSketch financially...
- ...And partially because of that, Spencer and I were able to buy a house with a sweet office space!
- And, quite importantly, ConverSketch now has a full-time Muse (read: fuzzy, pencil-chewing, typ99999999999999e enhancing snuggle buddy).
 
One of the ways I love to ring in a new year is a family tradition we always did as far back as I can remember: Creating a Vision Board for the coming year. 

In my experience, things that I focus my energy on tend to be drawn to me. So why not DRAW what you want?! As 2016 approaches, I challenge you to take a few minutes or a few hours by yourself or with loved ones, to think about what you want to create for yourself in 2016, and make a Vision Board.
 
Here are some tips to get you started:

You may be thinking "Karina, I can barely draw those little squiggle people". My family always used what I fondly call mixed media -- magazine photos, drawings and labels, text hand written or snipped from an old magazine...Anything you can find. So use whatever media is most appealing to you...maybe it will even get 3D!

"How big should I make it?" We used all sorts of sizes, it doesn't really matter as long as you can see and read your ideas when you look back on them throughout the year. Anything from a notebook sheet of paper to a 2x3 foot piece of poster board works!
 
"What should I do with it afterwards?" I always enjoy hanging it in a place I get to see regularly so I can be reminded of my goals, a trip to a beautiful place I want to take, or feel relaxed by nice words or pictures I've put on it. Again, for me having a gentle reminder to focus my thoughts and energy on positive goals is fun and helpful.
 
"Vision Board, huh? Seems a little woo woo." If a Vision Board isn't your thing, that's cool. If you enjoy setting New Years Resolutions or Goals, try writing them on a nice piece of paper and give them a couple doodles to spice it up and make you smile. Hang it some place visible as a reminder to stick to your goals throughout the year.
 
***One of the most integral parts of a Vision Board for me is having fun and not being hung up on exactly how things will work out. I use it as a time to focus my goals and energy, then trust that it will unfold exactly how it's supposed to.***

(Hint: click on the image below to see the larger version)

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Do you have a New Year's tradition to visualize the next revolution around the sun? Have you had an idea from a New Year's goal or vision manifest itself unexpectedly? Share it with us in the comments below! I'll be posting my Vision Board in the next email and would love to see yours too.

UPDATE: Here's my 2016 Personal Vision Board! It's about 9x12 inches and I hung it on the wall by my desk where I can see it every day. 

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If you liked this tip, please sign up for my emails and if you'd like,  I'd be so grateful if you shared it with someone who might enjoy this 2016 Vision Board Challenge!

Once again, thank you from my heart and soul for your support, great senses of humor, brilliant minds, collaboration and what you're each doing to make the world a better place.
 
May your Holidays be filled with love, laughter, joy, warmth and blessings.
 
From my heart to yours, Karina



If you've put something along the lines of "My team is productive, collaborative, and completely out of this world awesome in 2016" on your Vision Board, click that big ol' button below to chat with me about how I can help make it a reality! 

Where in the World is ConverSketch?

I've been busy working on a few projects in Fort Collins, and you have been busy too! You're Doodling All-Stars! Here are a few awesome drawings I've gotten from readers and ConverSketchers over the past few weeks. Have a doodle you'd like to share? Send it my way and I'll show it off in the email!