One way to explore your Intimate and Social Belonging is by drawing what Psychodrama innovator Jacob Moreno called “the social atom” – a diagram of the individuals to whom you feel emotionally related.
Use circles to represent females, triangles to represent males. To represent those who have died, use circles and triangles drawn with dotted lines. (Of course you can use any shape you wish.)
Draw yourself on the page first, anywhere that feels right to you.
Next add whoever else feels important to include at this moment, adjusting the size and location of each circle or triangle in whatever ways feel fitting. Add names if you wish.
Add color and any other sort of embellishment to further articulate how your particular relationships feel to you at this moment. (It could all change tomorrow.)
Include as many or as few significant relationships as you wish.
It’s okay if you aren’t always sure why you’re moved to draw it this way or that. Trust your process. Let curiosity be your guide.
Example:
This activity is great to share with a group of friends, students or fellow explorers. There may be insights you hadn’t expected or longings you wish to pursue. It’s a way for us to get to know each other more deeply. It can be a warm-up to sharing our deep stories.
I also encourage using your social atom as the starting point for further artistic creation, as this young participant did below.
Step One:
Step Two:
As you can see, each member of this teenager’s social atom is concealed, yet also aesthetically present. What’s more, by including qualities of texture, atmosphere, tone, color and even circular force, he found ways to express additional dimensions of family life that, as we know, are mostly beyond words.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like share your own experiences with the social atom.