I dreamt of becoming a cartographer when I was young, positioning my body amongst a multitude of maps spread across my mom and dad’s living room floor, tracing the colourful lines with my tiny fingers. The mind dreamt into stories of the people who experienced Life along those routes between the small hamlets and major cities. As a student at Penn State, I chose to spend quiet time in the Map Room, nested within the behemoth library on campus. It was a quiet sanctuary which provided salvation amongst the congested intersections of a very full university experience. While living on the Florida coast, nautical charts captivated the open spaces of my mind in the years before my daughter came along.
A quick search on Wikipedia lists the definition of Cartography as, "…the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively." My favorite aspect of this definition is almost every word of it! This soul sings and loves to shape and mold beautiful realities for the self and others. And while I did not "grow up" to be a cartographer per se, I am delighted to learn, at least according to this definition, I am still somewhat on the right path of creating, shaping, and directing the routes from "Point A" to "Point Present Moment". I would like to imagine us all as cartographers of the soul. This is an absolutely delightful thought on this quiet morning!
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