map

What’s the story? Part 2

| Mairead

10 12a

(Widen your focus… and see the big picture)

The story of us is part of a big Map. The Map is the representation we have created in our mind of the real world outside our mind. It’s just a representation, it’s not real. Just like the map of Ireland is not Ireland, it’s just a piece of paper that represents a real place. A map is much smaller, so it can fit in your car….  A map does not include everything. A map represents mountains with colours and lines. No one believes mountains are just colours and lines they know that’s just a representation. We know a map is not the country it represents.

10 12b

(Eat well… but not these….)

But we often believe the map in our mind is real…. “this is just the way I am”, “I’m lazy”, “I have no willpower”, etc., etc. We often believe in the story of us…. It’s not real, it’s just a representation…. like the lines and the colours. It’s a representation of something that was said or heard, something that was seen or experienced… and we hung on to it and deleted any experience of the opposite…. and it’s just a map.

10 12c

(Rest regularly)

Most of the choosing of the representation of the world is done in our childhood and is influenced by the people around us – our parents, our grandparents, our siblings, our teachers and society in general. We are affected by their representation of the world. Their Map has a strong influence on how they see the world and therefore how we learn to see the world.

If there’s something you want to include in your story, start noticing it in your experience. Mairead.

Canada – home of the free… stuff

| Mairead

29 8a

(Our bus stop – a little off-center but working perfectly)

Yesterday Caoimhe and I went to the Mall (pronounced maul.) Although there’s public transport here in Barrie –  a bus service and a train to Toronto – most people take cars. So Caoimhe had never been on the bus (neither had my sister or brother-in-law) but as bus travel is an integral part of every holiday for me, we gave it a go. Barrie is considered a town, but it’s a big town, with a population size similar to Cork city. We would need a map, timetables, directions – we didn’t have any of these…. but we had something else – Doris!

29 8d

(Our map – that’s the lake in blue and the circles with the arrows are the bus number and bus direction – we took number 10 and number 20)

If you’re keeping up with our story you will remember Doris and Bobba? Well, on Monday they had to go for a doctor’s appointment and among the out of date magazines and health promos in the waiting room they discovered a bus map and timetable. We had the tools. (Interesting by the way…. doctors visits are free – yes free! I was beginning to notice a few aches and pains that I could get investigated before we get back to Non-free-land when I was told it was only for residents. Sure I’m fine really.)

29 8b

(A newspaper stand on a suburban street)

Anyway, on Monday night we poured over the map and discovered where we could pick up the bus, how much it would cost (one fixed price $2.85 and that includes transfer to any other bus), what number it would be and which direction it would be going in. By Tuesday at 11am we were ready. We found the stop easily (after a bit of confusion – mine – about which side of the road the traffic drives…. it’s  the right!) and settled down to wait.

29 8c

(A fire hydrant – doesn’t it look a bit like the little bear in Yogi Bear?)

Caoimhe had a book and I had my camera. When the bus came we were ready with our exact change. I had put mine into the little slot and was encouraging Caoimhe to do the same when the nice lady driver said, Tell me she’s in 8th grade. Never one to disobey a person in uniform (and Caoimhe is in 8th grade) I nodded, Yes, she’s in 8th grade. Then she’s free when she’s with you. Yahoo!

Free doctors and free travel, how much better can this get? Mairead.

You are Here

| Mairead

(Where are we?)

In the cathedral building on the Rock of Cashel, there’s a map of all the buildings on the site. This map is on a stone plinth in the centre of the cathedral. Somewhere on that map there’s a label that says You Are Here. But of course we  all know that’s not exactly true…….. As a child playing in these buildings I used to walk my fingers around the map as if I was walking around the buildings.  But the real me wasn’t in the map, the real me was in the cathedral.

(Do birds have maps?)

There’s a map in my head too. It’s a map of the world around me. I’ve been drawing this map ever since I was born. It helps me find my way around relationships, around work, around society. It’s very useful. It’s also a bit misleading. Especially if I assume everyone else has the same map as mine in their head. The don’t. It also causes me a few problems if I think it’s real.

(Sometimes circumstances make the map incorrect…)

Like the map in the cathedral, the map in my head is just a picture, a representation of the real world. I’m not really in the map in my head, I’m here.

Get out of your head, you’re here, Mairead.