Why: A great reflection exercise for different perspectives on the year and new insights in what’s important for you in your life. Even better done in a small group.
Time: For the creation of the Wall of Wonder, take about 45-90 minutes, depending on how granular you want to go (for a solo reflection). If you do this exercise with a small group, budget about 30 minutes per person for a sharing afterward.
Prep: Get a large piece of paper. And markers, crayons, coloring pencils, paint, post-its, or magazines to collage. Whatever you have and want to work with is fine.
(These beautiful visuals were made by Esther Zijtregtop (owner of KW9, Amsterdam) when I hosted this exercise as a workshop for the KULA Network.)
Creating your Wall of Wonder
You'll make a visual representation of the year that's about to finish. Chances are by revisiting all these moments and seeing them all together, you'll gain new insights.
[Alternatively, you could also take a longer timeframe, or split it up in Past-Present-Future.]
I like to start with a long horizontal or diagonal line from one side to the other (or make a loop, it's up to you). Add all the months of the year, so you each event has a place. Leave a little space on the left and right; to add milestones or important events of your past and to add intentions for the next year.
Look back at everything that’s happened in the last year. Around that line, add all the important events, projects, milestones, moments, holidays that happened over they year.
Go through your calendar, pictures or notes for inspiration. Or call someone up to check if you haven’t missed anything important.
[You can also do this with a team to look back on a project or on your time together uptil now. Together you fill the past and present blocks with the important moments. Discovering the threads and shaping the story together.]
You can be visual and create little drawings. You can work more with text. The form is completely up to you. You could color-code events by type (work/projects/private or the lenses below) or put each of the same type in a specific band (a strip of paper parallel to the timeline). Options enough, and everyone creates his/hers differently.
Do you roughly have all the events? Go through all the months and look at them through the lens of how you were doing in these 3 aspects of life:
Wealth: Livelihood, work, projects, network, skills.
Health: Fitness, wellbeing, mental state, sport.
Happiness: Relationships, fun, friends, holidays, trips, activities, fulfilment, emotions.
2 additional lenses could be:
Growth & Creativity: Artistic and self-expression, interests, education, hobbies.
Impact & Contribution: Community, causes, helping, movements.
These lenses are there to give you a vantage point to look at your year/event from. How was it, with regards to these aspects? You could add words or emotions to the events that come to mind with respect to these lenses.
When were you in flow? When was it harder? Maybe rate each months in how satisfied you were with it in regards to these lenses. Or simply highlight the positive and negative moments.
Again, work in a way that works for you. Don’t strive for perfection in form. Don’t try to fill it up to the brim just to do it. It’s a medium and a means to an end to reflect. Simply doodle and write :).
Reflect
Now, try to see if you notice any patterns or trends. What's recurring as positive or stressful? Reflect on the whole for a few minutes.
Finish up by writing down three of each of the following:
Themes throughout the year.
Things you’ve learned in the past year,
Things you've come to value/find important,
Your intentions for the coming year.
Group
A very worthwhile expansion is to not do this alone. Gather with a few friends to create your Walls of Wonder together. And most importantly, share the stories of your year and your dreams for the coming year amongst each other.
In sharing your wall of wonder, go 1 by 1. Create a dedicated moment for each of you, so that everyone really gets a chance to dive in. Take enough time for every individual. About 20 minutes to share the story of the year and about 10 minutes for questions/observations from the rest is ideal.
I advise setting a timer. 20 minutes can seem long to talk about yourself. Knowing the time isn’t finished allows the speaker to lean into that (s)he can indeed add more or go on talking about him/herself. If the speaker is finished, use the rest of the time to ask clarifying questions (but hold your reflections or advise for the 10 minute reflection block).
A nice extension here is to invite all listeners to focus on a different part of the story. To tune their ears to a different frequency so to say. For example:
Values: What’s important to the person?
Patterns in happiness: What patterns can you discover that help the person live happily?
Energy: Focus on the non-verbal communication. When does he/she light up? When was the energy high or low?
Or create more.
You could, in a check-out, each share what you’re grateful for (in the year and the Wall of Wonder session) and what your intention is for the next year.
That’s it! Have fun. Let me know how it goes!
