The Cartographer of Yourself
On the difference between the map of you and the country you actually live in.
Each of us carries a map of ourselves. We drew it young — from praise we received, from criticism we absorbed, from the labels family and teachers attached to us. 'You are the smart one.' 'You are the quiet one.' 'You are not athletic.' 'You are not creative.' We folded the map and slipped it in our pocket. We have been navigating by it ever since.
The trouble with very old maps is that the country changes. Rivers shift. New towns appear. The road that was impassable in the spring is open by August. But the map in our pocket is still the one we were handed when we were nine, and we keep walking around the new things as if they were not there.
Most of what people call a midlife crisis is, in fact, a cartography crisis. The map does not match the country. The 'smart one' realises she also has a body. The 'quiet one' wants to be heard. The 'not creative one' has been writing in secret for ten years and is afraid to admit it.
You are allowed to redraw the map. You do not need permission from the people who first drew it. They were doing their best with limited information, in a country that no longer exists.
Walk the country. Note what is actually there. Draw a new map. Then, when it is out of date — and it will be — draw another.
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
Name the technique
Every story here ends on a quoted line. These entries explain how lines like it are built, credited, and misused.
- Credo
- A personal or institutional statement of belief — the 'I believe' quotation.
- Apologia
- A formal defence of one's beliefs or conduct — an explanation, not an apology.
- Pull Quote
- A short, eye-catching quote lifted from an article and displayed in large type for emphasis.