Round Three - Ros is Making a Start!

This is my first journal swap!  I am excited!  I have chosen the theme “Maps” as it was my intention to fill a journal with map goodness this year.  When the event popped up I thought it a perfect opportunity to meet my intention in a collaborative manner. 

I am inspired by Jill Berry’s book Personal Geographies. Berry uses and encourages others to create maps as a tool to self-discovery.  We use maps as a means of finding our way to a location or finding our way around a location or gathering knowledge from a map. Most people know their way around their local shopping centre and wouldn’t need to have a physical map.  For me, the mental map comes into play as I enter the centre and track my way to the coffee shop, the Ladies (loo), the supermarket and back to the car. If someone asks me where something is in the centre my mental map comes into play and I can send them in the right direction.

It is the same for most things in our lives.  I know where everything is in my house (most times!) as it is embedded in a mental map.  I don’t know where everything is in my son’s room apart from the things in the most logical places.  I would need either a map to navigate his disaster zone or ask him and he could refer to his mental map to send me in the right direction.

So consider your personal map of Self. If you were to map your whole life it wouldn’t squish onto one page of a journal but aspects of your self could fill a page.  If you are grumpy when you get up of a morning you could map ‘your grump’, map ‘your hopes’, map your ‘good mood’, your overflowing washing basket, your pantry, your art supplies.  The list of things you could map about your ‘Self'' is endless.

I had intended to use an A5 Canson illustration journal for the project but was worried the papers would not stand up to media other participants may wish to use. The suggestion of using loose leaf was made in conversation in the Facebook group and I immediately knew by going this route my problem was solved.

A hunt though my hoard uncovered some perfect loose leaf surfaces to work on and they will travel around in a small box and when they return from their journey they will be kept in another box from my hoard. Included in the box will be an assortment of hints and tips to help or inspire you to complete your contribution. 

You do not have to divulge very personal information about yourself. You can expose a facet of your ‘Self’ you don’t mind sharing. You can use whatever you have to map yourself, collage, paint, draw, write, photographs.