Dear Self is a data portrait that intends to represent personal identity and promote self-knowledge. The shape of a mandala is used to visualize personal data collected during two different moments in time. Drawing mandalas is believed to be a therapeutic resource used for an encounter with the self and consequent discovery of one’s essence.

The Diary

The mandalas are gathered in a personal diary that presents my experience in two distinct time periods. They form a visual narrative developed in two parts.

How to Read the Mandalas

One can decipher the mandalas by carefully reading the captions. They are constructed concentrically and clockwise in order to sequentially represent various daily activities and their impact on my state of mind.

Food

Each diamond represents a meal and a type of food. The colors associated with the diamonds show the emotion felt during that meal.

Communication

Each petal symbolizes a conversation and the type of relationship with the person in question. The color represents the emotion resulting from that conversation.

Screen Time

The circles around other elements correspond to 10 minutes of mobile phone screen time.

Steps

Each dash represents a slot of 100 steps walked a day.

General Mood

Positive emotions are represented by warm colors. Neutral feelings or boredom are represented by neutral colors. Negative emotions correspond to a spectrum of cold colors.

Do you want to paint your mandala?

The construction mandalas in Dear Self's is developed according to the “Observe - Count – Draw" method, proposed by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec. This method allows me to discover relevant behavioral patterns to a process of self-knowledge. If you believe that these methods can be useful for you, download the template and start drawing your mandala.