Self-Portrait Exercise

Source: National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Save Ourselves Sister (SOS) Program 

Instructions:

  • Each participant draws their face on a piece of paper. 

  • They then write all the positive things they can think of about their facial characteristics or their character. 

  • Each participant must circulate their drawing to at least five people in the room. One at a time, those five people will write one thing they like about that respective person

  • Once the drawing is returned to its proper owner, that person must add 5 more things (not already) listed that they like about themself.

  • Once everyone has completed their list, the entire group debriefs together. Some suggested reflection questions are below: 

    • What comments stand out to you? Why?

    • Did you think of positive traits you hadn’t thought of before? Was it easy to do?

    • Is it hard to say nice things about yourself? Why?

Praxis (why + theory):

If the group is already familiar with each other, I usually pair this activity with an individual asset mapping exercise in which people are invited to respond to the question of what participants can do with their hands, heads, hearts, and relationships. While the responses to the initial exercise are in list form, we create a material illustration of our individual asset map in this self-portrait activity. 

Receiving affirming feedback from peers often provokes new realizations about ourselves as peers identify positive characteristics in others that were evidenced in seemingly ordinary observations and interactions. The most daunting challenge arises when we are asked to add 5 more positive traits and/or skills that aren’t already listed on the self-portrait. The activity creates a necessary space for 1) reflecting on our self-perceptions and how they inform our ability to identify and evaluate the assets we bring to a collective, and 2) receiving the feedback from our peers that can reframe and expand those self-perceptions in ways that appreciate the value of our assets

We do both of these activities before playing Calling All My Friends as an embodied method of asset mapping the entire group.