Mapping Senses

When I reflected upon the audio This American Life and discovered the possibility for mapping senses, I went even further in an investigation and learned there are spiritual maps as well. This new knowledge fascinates me and leads me to wonder about our passion for locating things, it must be in our genes, as a manifestation of territorial species that are highly dependant upon constant orientation and movement. We map things, not only places and sensations, but also emotions; thus we can advance our spiritual reality wherever we need to arrive. Should this imply we are spinning constantly? Never at ease? Is that our fate?
I find in maps a metaphoric reality: they are built to allow us to visualize diverse routes and marks for options, and interrelationships among elements in place. Some maps are named ‘charts’ meaning their content alludes to more specific information about the diverse components of a place. Topography, hydrology and climate are simple examples of such guides for rivers, mountains and climate, which can increase in complexity when they include not only data but also data about data, a term known as metadata (information about information).

My father is a geographer, I attended several GIS conferences in Redlands California year after year all through my childhood. I have grown listening about maps, charts, arch info, scanners, land tenure, goggle earth, Erdas license. After standing behind his information booth about the Sea of Cortés and the Sonoran Desert region, acknowledging for decades these unique eco-regions (two contrasting environments, opposed and intimately dependent upon each other) I was nourished to create my first map, which took me another ten years. http://www.sierradealamos-riocuchujaqui.net/

Once, a policeman in Boston dared to call my father a “lousy map reader” because he had the metro map upside-down, and even being the daughter of such distinguished scientist I never imagined the possibilities of mapping. When it comes to criticizing my beloved father all I can say is that his compass is guided by his heart; he is the best map producer ever. However, I notice his reluctance to acquaint borders. While working for the Environmental Cooperation Commission in Montréal, he created the first map of Canada, the United States and México all together at same scale. The uniqueness of his map is the marked borders which are there only to enhance diversity, yet still unifying a willingness of the three nations to cooperate and trace the effects of development on each other.

With regard to the Audio, I realized how we could discern our gender oriented survival instincts and acquaintance with territory from the way we construct maps with our senses. Some of them produced for sight and sound, more acquainted with male perceptions, while touch would be more of a feminine exploration. But overall, this Audio leaves me uneasy: I am not a fixed creature in the bottom of the Atlantic, with few photolytic cells to perceive only intensity of light. No. I am the product of over eleven million years of evolution, meant to be mobile, symmetric, complementary in reason and emotion; in constant seek. I do have the responsibility to leave a bountiful future for the young ones, a promising chart of dreams coming true, a map which is awaiting them for a fulfilling existence.