Maps

When I was a teenager, I had a slightly outdated map of world that I had found in a pile of old National Geographic magazines that my dad picked up for me at a charity shop. It was a central feature on my bedroom wall at my dad's place. My dad is big on setting goals, dreaming big, reaching for the sky; and so I tended to be in a future-oriented mindset in the weeks I was at my dad's. I used to put little yellow stickers on all the places in the world that I wanted to visit. I was really selective about it and I poured over that map in detail. The amount of time I stood staring at the wall, considering what it would be like to walk the streets of Tokyo, or to experience the idiosyncratic wildlife in Madagascar or to go on Safari in Kenya. I considered what it might be like to live in the UK, what the French would think of my french, and how fun it would be to learn to surf in Australia. I marveled at how condensed Europe seemed in comparison to the vastness of Canada and wondered why the US bothered with splitting themselves into so many states. Choosing where to place my little yellow stickers taught me about the world.

Since then, I've always had an affinity for putting up a map of the world wherever I live. It's comforting because it reminds where I am, where I've been, and where I want to go. To me, maps serve more than their designed function; they are metaphors for life. A map of the world presents all the pieces of the puzzle, it tells me 'Justin, this is all available. All of it'. It asks me 'Justin, where do you want to go? Why? How will you get there? What do you need?'. Maps force me to visualise myself in new, exciting and scary situations. And as I live my life, in new places, experiencing new things, and meeting new and wonderful people, a map chronicles these friendships and experiences. And so Aberdeen becomes so much more than a yellow sticker. It's a PhD, it's Leigh, it's Ollie, it's Mike and Sarah, it's Stephan, it's Niina, it's Dave and Suzanne and Robbie and Karen, Bernadette and Eric, it's Falko and Jill and Marie and Derek, it's the beach, it's green, it's the feeling of accomplishment, of friendship and love. It's all those things and more, and it's why I'll continue to surround myself with maps.