From Survival to System: Why It Exists and Why It Must Be Tested
TEG-Blue™ began in crisis, as a way to make sense of experiences that existing frameworks couldn’t fully hold. What started as survival sketches grew into a visual map of emotional patterns—revealing the logics behind harm, protection, and healing.
From Collapse to Construction
In April 2024, my life as I knew it ended. I walked away from a deeply harmful relationship, lost the company I had built from scratch, and found myself with nothing—no partner, almost no home, no clear future. What followed was a raw, unplanned process of survival that slowly turned into discovery. Each day, I searched for ways to make sense of shock, confusion, and the patterns of harm I had lived through. Step by step, those survival notes became sketches, and the sketches became a map.
As long as I can remember, I have made meaning through design—turning chaos into visual logic, complex realities into clear patterns. My background isn’t in psychology or academia. I’m a motion designer with 25+ years’ experience making complex ideas accessible and human. My curiosity about why people behave as they do has been a lifelong through line—fuelled less by career goals and more by necessity.
Seeing the Patterns, Building the Map
TEG-Blue was not built by inventing new theories out of nowhere.
It emerged by connecting the dots between established frameworks in psychology, neuroscience, education, anthropology and lived experience.
The method was simple but demanding:
- Identify the core emotional logics across traditions.
- Connect them into one coherent map instead of leaving them fragmented.
- Translate them into visual, accessible designs that anyone can use.
This approach does not replace existing models. It fills the gaps between them, making their insights usable as part of one system. The result is both practical and rigorous—a framework that is testable, teachable, and grounded in the knowledge that has already shaped these fields.
The Influence of Hans Rosling and Lifelong Intellectual Curiosity
TEG-Blue™ would not exist without the influence of Hans Rosling. 19 years ago, his iconic TED talk, “The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen,” showed me that seeing reality clearly—even in its messiest patterns—is an act of hope and care for humanity.
His way of zooming out to reveal patterns invisible up close planted the first seed of this project—before I even knew it. He taught me to believe that things can be bad and still get better, and that making knowledge accessible is an ethical responsibility.
Without that spark, I am sure that The Emotional Gradient Blueprint would have never existed.
My own intellectual landscape is formed by decades of self-directed learning: books on emotional intelligence, trauma, neuroscience, the mind-body connection, and the roots of human behavior. (A reading list, spanning Goleman to van der Kolk to Gabor Maté, stands behind TEG-Blue—see below for the full foundation.)
I’m not a credentialed scientist. I am a systems-thinker, visual translator, and survivor who built tools to stay alive—and then realized those tools could serve a wider purpose if tested openly.
Why the Origin Demands Independent Scrutiny
This story is not a credential. If anything, it’s the reason why TEG-Blue depends on careful, external research.
What a crisis offers:
- Insider’s perspective on emotional breakdown and recovery.
- Tools tested under real-world extremity, not theory.
- Visual clarity sharpened by survival. What it lacks:
- Academic distance and objectivity.
- Rigor of controlled, multi-population testing.
- Proof that what’s universal under stress is universal everywhere.
These gaps aren’t a flaw—they’re an honest call for independent, critical, multidisciplinary evaluation.
I’m not asking anyone to believe TEG-Blue is correct because of my story or struggle. I’m asking if, given its origin, it is worth investigating further.
What I Bring & What I Need in Partners
What I can offer:
- Two decades of visual storytelling and design precision.
- Deep curiosity and broad self-education in human sciences.
- A Hans Rosling-inspired commitment to clarity, transparency, and actionable hope.
- A framework built for real-time use, not just theory.
- Complete transparency about what I can and cannot know alone.
What I ask of collaborators:
- Expertise in research methodology, empirical measurement, and academic rigor.
- External, independent testing across diverse groups and contexts.
- Peer review and the willingness to discover both strengths and flaws.
- Collaboration that centers evidence, not narrative.
The Open Question
Did this origin story produce just a personal survival kit, or a system that stands up to scientific scrutiny and serves a wider audience?
Can tools born from necessity deepen, not duplicate, existing approaches?
Do survivor maps reveal or distort universal truths?
These are not rhetorical questions. They are an open, evidence-driven invitation.
For Those Ready to Investigate
If you’re interested in trauma-informed tools, in frameworks where lived and learned experience are integrated, or in the empirical value of survivor-informed designs, I invite you to partner in testing TEG-Blue—fully, transparently, and with all necessary rigor.
I’m not asking for allies. I’m asking for honest skeptics, skilled researchers, and open minds. Only proper research can reveal what is truly useful here.
Next Steps: Connect and Collaborate
- Learn more, download these files:
- For inquiries, funding, or collaboration ideas, contact:
Anna Paretas Email: [email protected]
The Intellectual Foundation Behind TEG-Blue
The Spark: Hans Rosling's Legacy
Ninteen years ago, Hans Rosling’s 2006 TED talk “The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen” changed my life. His way of zooming out to reveal patterns invisible up close planted the first seed of this project. Without that spark, The Emotional Gradient Blueprint would not exist.
Discover his brilliance in Hans Rosling's 2006 TED Talk
Foundations & Further Reading
Here are the books that helped me connect the dots—that showed me the world through a different lens, and helped me become a more human human being.