5 Ways to Self-Discovery

by hayley vu August 31, 2020

We all face hardship, difficulty, mistakes, fears, and confusion about the choices in our lives. But have you ever re-visited those memories and reflected on it? How can you heal from the past?

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I have been thinking a lot lately about what the world will be like during the lock down due to the Covid 19. It is absolutely undeniable that the Internet will be where people hang out and keep in touch with others. People start working from home, students learn everything online, BUT what about people who can not work from home?

While it is frustrating to have an unexpected holiday and know that your income will be affected for a period of time, I believe that it would be a PERFECT HOLIDAY for SELF-DISCOVERY.

If you are still doubtful about how to spend your time during isolation or how to use it effectively, Calligraphy Pour Toi has a suggestion that would help your MENTAL HEALTH and make your TIME become more valuable.

It does not matter if you are good at drawing, the ONLY important thing is Being able to express your thoughts, preferably on paper! The way that I usually reflect on my life is JOURNALING and DRAWING MY THOUGHTS.

Here are 5 SIMPLE WAYS for you to start with:

1. A Pie Chart of Resilience

We are all vulnerable at points in our lives, and it always takes a lot of bravery to show our vulnerability and our imperfection to others. However, it is okay to show your flaws and vulnerability because no one is perfect and it is important TO BE YOURSELF and to show off different parts of your life. Our imperfections are part of who we are, no one is perfect, celebrate your individuality.

“ Vulnerability": Showing the world parts of yourself that aren’t perfect.

I found an exercise on how to express my thoughts and feelings from a class on SkillShare by Mari Andrew who is a writer and illustrator. Her class is basically about processing a difficult time through Art.

To start with this activity, think of what you have been through, what have you overcome? Think of the most difficult time in your life, or a few major events in your life. WRITE THEM DOWN.
DRAW THE PIE CHART: Fill in each slice with different stories from your life, the bigger or smaller slice depends on how much influence it had on your life.

FILL COLOURS: this is probably my favourite part, choose a colour that you think resonates with that particular event.
AND HERE WE GO. This is your Pie Chart of RESILIENCE.

By writing down and drawing your struggles - what you have been through in your life. You can begin to feel far stronger and encouraged because you can see every time you have been brave. It is a great way to understand your emotions and understand why you felt a certain way, and it is okay! We are all human beings, we all have feelings and emotions.

2. Boxes of Lessons

Have you ever thought of some events or certain things that kept happening again and again in your life? Are you always attracted to certain types of people, relationships, or careers?

It happens to me SO MANY TIMES.

But the TRUTH is, we can CHANGE THE PATTERNS. I always love this quote:

“ If you keep doing what you have done, you will keep getting what you have got" - B.L.Bateman

In order to break up the patterns or unfavorable things that happened to us, we need to make CHANGES.

I came up with this idea because I thought that it is important to LOOK BACK at our past and LEARN FROM it. To accept our actions, but not dwell on our mistakes. It's okay to feel self-pity, but don't get trapped in the cycle of regret. Make learning not to repeat it part of who we are, evolve into the future and accept the past as it is.

Here is how we can reflect ourselves:

Think of all the unfavorable events’ or things that happened to you.
Draw a BOX and TITLE for each of them, with all the unfavorable things that happened to you.
Write what you have LEARNED from each box/ event.
Colour your boxes

3. Draw your day - The Road Map

Sometimes, we all get carried away with the chaos in our lives and we forget to sit down and think of what has happened that day. what have we learned, and what did we go through. Was it a happy or sad memory? Either write down or draw your thoughts and feelings about events during your day, it helps to clear our head and give us a clearer vision of our life's direction.

I have learned this exercise from Samantha Dion Baker on Instagram. She draws her daily life, and the things around her, as her own journal. It doesn’t matter if you can’t draw, NEITHER DO I (If you look at the photo below, wink wink). All we want to do is interpret things in our head on paper and so we can relieve it rather than keep it stuck in our mind.

Use a Black Pen to Draw over the pencil line

Use watercolor to color your Visual Diary

For more inspiration, you should check out this hashtag on Instagram #drawyourday

4. Write yourself a letter to your 1-5 years future self / Draw a future self-portrait.

I can’t remember where I found this idea but it really helps me to keep track of my life and my career. Although it is true that we all change and develop ourselves in different ways, a letter to our future self can remind us of who we were, our values at that time and our vision of the future. Sometimes, even though it might not be relevant anymore, it is still a good tracking tool of our desires, hopes and dreams. We can able to see how far we have come and what we want to do next in the future.

In the letter, you should address where you are at the moment and where you want to be in the future so that you can see your development over 5 years.

You can follow these questions for the guideline:

WHERE AM I AT THIS MOMENT?

What job am I doing? How much do I get paid? Do I love my job? Who is my favorite co-worker?
Where do I live right now?
What does my day look like?
Who am I with?
Am I healthy?
How many countries/ cities have I traveled to?
What are my hobbies or favorite things to do in my free time?
How is my relationship at the moment?

2. WHERE DO I WANT TO BE?

What do I want to achieve in the next 5 years in terms of my career? How much do I want to earn weekly/yearly?
Which countries/cities do I want to travel within the next 5 years?
What kind of job do I do want to achieve in the next 5 years? Will it be my dream job?
Who would be my future partner? Their personalities and characteristics?
What do I want to own? (ex: a new car, my own YouTube channel, an online shop …)
What would be my hobbies or favorite thing to do in my free time? (A skill that you always want to learn for instance)
What would my day look like?
Where do I want to live? What kind of house would I love to live in? Is it near a beach or a mountain?
What values/skills do I want to adopt within the next 5 years?

These are just some suggestions for you to start with, there is no one way to do it! You can adjust the questions that are more relevant for yourself. Imagine how interesting it would be when you read it again and see your old self from 5 years back.

5. A Grateful Tree

The older we are, the more experience we had and the more mature we become. Life is not easy but it is important to look at the Bright Side of everything around us and be grateful for it.

I love the quote by a Buddha Monk named Thich Nhat Hanh, he says:

“ Walking as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet”

Embracing things around us at this moment is a way to make you feel happier and peaceful because sometimes, we forget how lucky we are in this world.

Here is my little Grateful Tree if you want to have some inspirations. :)

For more inspiration, you can check out this Pinterest link to see different kinds of tree and branches and I can't wait to see what you will come up with, Use hashtag #calligraphypourtoi so that I can check out your idea and your thoughts. It would be so interesting to see how we think as individuals.