Knowing where someone came from can better help us understand who they are now so we can better support them with where they are going in the future.
The LifeLine activity, as outlined below, is a great way to unearth the backstory for each member of your Forum. Here’s how to run this activity:
BEFORE THE FORUM MEETING:
- Going all the way back to your birth, reflect on the pivotal moments of your life that lead to where you are today. At the moment the event happened, how would you label it in terms of it being a positive or negative event for you? And for each of those events, how serious was the positive or negative feeling on a scale of 0-10?
- On the LifeLine template found here > https://tinyurl.com/yfuedpsf, put a dot for each pivotal event in your life. Positive events go above the line, and negative events go below the line. In less than four words, give a label to each dot to describe the event.
- In preparation for presenting your LifeLine to your Forum, collect any additional materials you might need to best tell your story. These materials could include photos, videos, books, papers, etc.
AT THE FORUM MEETING:
Use one or both of the “Deep Dive” time slots to have people present on their LifeLine. The whole process takes about 45 minutes following this outline:
- 12 Mins – Presenter shares their LifeLine and talks about each pivotal moment.
- 8 Mins – Q&A with the group to learn more about the pivotal moments.
- 1 Min – Solo reflection on what they see as the common themes and traits of the person’s LifeLine.
- 2 Mins Each – Each person shares out loud what they see as the common themes and traits of the person’s LifeLine.
- 2 Mins – The presenter shares their final thoughts and reflections on the feedback from the group.
AFTER THE FORUM MEETING:
- Have the presenter record the common themes and traits they heard from the group on their LifeLine.
- Place all of the LifeLines into a group folder to be looked back at if needed.
- For any future members who join the group, give them access to the LifeLine Folder to learn more about each member.
Typically Forums have one or two members present on their LifeLine each Forum in place of a Deep Dive. So in a Forum of eight members, it would take four to eight months to have every member present.
Here’s an example of the LifeLine Activity filled out by someone > https://bit.ly/3LnH3mi