River of life

Drawing on screen only works with JavaScript. You can also do it on paper. Take a large sheet and lay it landscape. Draw a source on the left and let a river run to the right, up to now. Divide it into chapters and draw in what belongs there: stones, bridges, little islands. After now, draw the river on to the sea with dots.

River of life

Draw your life as a river

Your river runs from the source to now. After that it carries on as a dotted line, to the sea.
Divide it into chapters, like in a book. For each chapter, choose how the water flowed.
Put things in and along it: a stone that made things hard, a bridge that helped you, a little island where things were good.
Then sail the little boat along your river, and tell your story.

The start of a made-up example: Robin’s river. It carries on to now, and then to the sea.

What can go in your river

Stone: what made things hard.
Bridge: someone or something that helped you get across.
Little island: a good place or time.
Log: something you carried with you. It can help you float or get in the way.
Rowing boat: something you did yourself.
Lighthouse: someone who showed you the way.

And twelve other things, such as a lock, a whirlpool, flowers and a rain cloud.

How it works

Start at the source: your birth, or another moment you choose. Or look at the example first, Robin’s made-up river.
Divide your river into chapters, like in a book. For each chapter, choose how the water flowed: wide and calm, fast, narrow, almost dry, a waterfall or a flood. The river changes with it.
Put things in and along it, with a short label: a stone that made things hard, a bridge that helped you, a little island where things were good, a lighthouse that showed you the way. Drag them, or move them with the buttons.
Under The sea, write what you hope for, what you take with you and what you leave behind.
Go to Sail. The little boat stops at every chapter and every thing. Your story and a question then appear large on the screen.

Where it comes from

This comes from the lifeline: a method where you put the highs and lows of your life on a line. You can add the line too: choose how each chapter felt, and it appears above the river.

Together with a care worker

River of life can help when you are getting to know each other, or when you look back together. Place the tablet or laptop so you can both see it, or choose Full screen. With every chapter and every thing there are questions to talk about. Under Settings, turn on the tips for the care worker to get a few extra tips, such as: ask more about a bridge.

A whole river is a lot for one conversation. Start with a few chapters, save the file, and carry on next time.

Good to know

A life story can be hard.
Does something come up that is on your mind? Talk about it with someone you trust, your GP or a care worker. If you are thinking about suicide, call 113 (the Dutch suicide prevention line) or 0800-0113 for free. In an emergency, call 112.
Everything works with the keyboard. Anything you drag in the drawing, you can also move with buttons and arrow keys.
In the last step, Print, your whole river is also written out as a story in words. That is handy with a screen reader, and for copying.
Is your device set to ‘reduce motion’? Then the little boat does not sail, but jumps from stop to stop.

Your data

What you draw and write stays on this page, on your own device. Nothing is sent and nothing is saved in your browser. If you close or refresh the page, everything is gone.

The file goes on your device, in the place you choose. Everything you have drawn and written is in it. Only give it to someone who is allowed to read it.
If you copy the text, it is on your clipboard. Only paste it where you want it.
Do you choose ‘Save as PDF’ when you print? Then your river is saved as a file on your device.

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Does something not work, or are you looking for a tool that does not exist yet? Let us know, a few words is enough. We read everything.

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