Internal System Map [Me]

Ever since we checked out that other page where someone had shown a picture of their internal system map - or at last an example of an internal system map, the idea has been floating around in our mind. Last night, Kiara sat down and scribbled one out on paper, with some grown-up help. I've spent most of today, with her help, putting it on digital. And here's the final result:

As you can see, it doesn't look a lot like an office. Several people have their own personal rooms, that only they can go in and out of. The room off to the left is a quiet space, where the outside world doesn't intrude. The room off to the right is a space where people can be very aware of the outside world, and can communicate with whomever is in control at the Spotlight space. There's a whiteboard between the Sharing Room and the Spotlight Room for notes. And a hallway for moving around between rooms.

And just behind the Spotlight Room is a Watching Room, with two-way glass in the wall between them, like a police interrogation room. The chair with the purple rug is Lynn's. She controls whether the door to the Locked Away room is locked or unlocked, and she's always watching what's going on out front. She can also see the whiteboard from there. The other chair is Kiara's, but anyone may use it to watch out front. It's a small space, though, and it gets very uncomfortable when too many people try to crowd around.

There's plenty of space in the Sharing Room, though. People there can see and hear what's happening out front, and the person in front can see and hear them, too, though the person they are interacting with can't. And they can get to the whiteboard to make or read notes, too. The Sharing Room has other distractions, so someone there might not be paying attention to everything out front, but they can. Too many people in there does make it very loud and hard for the person in front to focus.

I am limited to the front three rooms - I always have to be Watching, Sharing, or in the Spotlight. Lynn is usually in her chair watching, but goes in the Sharing Room sometimes. Silent One is almost always Locked Away, curled up on the black leather couch. If it comes out, it can pass through the wall back and forth without going through the other spaces. Everyone else has their own space, and has free run of the entire mind-space except for other peoples' rooms.

You know, here's another analogy I just thought of - that computer on the reception desk. Everyone has a passworded login, just like you would (or at least should) at home or at work. Some people have access to certain files and programs, and some don't - just like some of us have access to different memories and skills. Lots of things are common to all users, but not everything. I'm an admin user, and should have access to everything, but some things are hidden even from me.

I showed this map in an unfinished form to a friend that knows several of us, and she said it really helped her understand some of the things I've said about who's in and out and watching and what not. So I hope it helps other people, too. It certainly helps us, and has been fun to do, too.