Nice to meet you! I'm miyo, a Graphic Recorder

The reason I started note.

I started note because I wanted a place to talk about "drawing," which is something I'm passionate about!
I also want more people to know about a form of expression I practice called "Graphic Recording" (or "GraReco" for short).

First, let me introduce myself.

I was born and raised in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture.
Just as it's said that when people from Kurashiki are asked "Where are you from?" while traveling, they answer "Kurashiki" rather than "Okayama," I also love my hometown of Kurashiki.

I was born the eldest of three sisters.
My own children are three sisters, my mother is one of four sisters, and my grandmother was one of five sisters; it's a family line where the women are definitely strong.

Since I was little, I would get so absorbed in coloring, drawing, and reading books that when I entered my "concentration mode," I wouldn't even notice my mother calling me.

A faint sign of GraReco emerging!?

At some point, I started adding drawings to the things I wrote.
Letters to friends, notes I'd hand to someone, things a teacher explained at school.
Adding a little drawing along with the text.
Why was I doing that?
Looking back now, I think it was to convey things that were hard to express with just words.

For example, when expressing gratitude, if you try to convey how happy you were using only words, it can feel a bit exaggerated... so I let the drawing do the talking, using it to show just how happy I was.
At the time, I did it so naturally that I never thought about the reason, but I think that feeling was the beginning.

Interestingly, all of my daughters have done the same thing since they were little.
Or rather, isn't this where everyone starts when they are children?
If you think, "Yes, yes! My child does something similar!", please leave a comment (^ ^)

Unfortunately, when I was in elementary school, teachers would get angry at me, saying "Don't doodle in your notebook!", so I didn't think of it as a very good thing myself.
There were times when I felt a bit annoyed with my childish self for not being able to break the habits I had as a young child. I would like to talk about this in more detail on another occasion.

Encountering Facility Graphics

One day, a Facebook ad popped up, and I encountered the term "Facility Graphics".

"Facility Graphics: Drawing discussions with pictures and text"
Wow! There was a name for what I was doing!

It was a shock! I still remember the moment my eyes were glued to my smartphone screen.

Facility Graphics (or "Facigra" for short), like GraReco, is similar in that you draw while listening to people talk, but there are some differences.

・Graphic Recording
　[Purpose] To record the content of what is spoken
　[Effect] Information is organized and visualized, which is useful for reflection
　[Setting] Meetings, conferences, lectures, etc.
・Facility Graphics
　[Purpose] To visualize discussions
　[Effect] Contributes to the activation of discussions and enables fruitful conversations
　[Setting] Meetings, workshops, etc.

In a nutshell, GraReco is drawn to record and reflect, while Facigra is drawn while sharing on the spot to make discussions more active.

The one-day workshop I signed up for from a Facebook ad

My encounter with the shocking term "Facility Graphics".
The content of the Facebook ad was an announcement for a one-day workshop.
I signed up immediately.
I didn't even need to check my work schedule; I felt like I absolutely had to go, even if I had to take the day off.
Of course, I didn't think that what I had drawn in the past was exactly Facility Graphics, but I felt that it would help me understand the value of what I had been doing all along.

Tomoko Tamari, a specially appointed lecturer at Tokushima University, came to Kurashiki as an instructor.
She is an amazing person who is active as a visual facilitator, creating spaces through drawing, and contributing to welfare and community development.
Despite that, she is very approachable and wonderful, and I have become a complete fan.
(I even brought my lunch box to join her during the lunch break.)

I took a full-day course from morning until evening.
It started with what facilitation graphics are, covered basic drawing methods, involved actually practicing facilitation graphics while listening to others, and ended with creating my own vision board.
The photo below is my first graphic.
The sticky notes are comments posted by other students.

It is no exaggeration to say that this comment changed my life.
It not only influenced my subsequent actions, but these words also easily repainted my negative impressions of my past self.
The power of words received from such a wonderful and respectable teacher was that great.

Since then, I have drawn within my company during my time as an employee, drawn for volunteer activities, and drawn for myself.
I have drawn an incredible number of sheets, but I will let you hear about that another time.

Thank you for reading until the end.