Connection, Courage, and Creativity: Deciphering My Wandering Map
chaos theory distilled down to its rawest form
I participated in a training this week at work, prepping me to teach a first year experience class for GW. With any work training, you never know what to expect. Will I fall asleep before the training even starts? Will I be riveted and on the edge of my seat (unlikely)? It usually comes down to the presenter. A good presenter can make any topic at least marginally interesting.
Luckily we had a great presenter and as part of the training we participated in some of the activities we would have our students do during the semester. One of these activities was called “The Wandering Map” which distills chaos theory down to its rawest form. The activity was created by Dr. Katherine Brooks in her book “You Majored In What? Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career.”
The purpose of the activity is to connect meaningful life experiences to gather themes and patterns in your life. You start the activity by writing down pretty much anything meaningful starting from your first memory and on. Some prompts for this section were:
Begin thinking about significant things that you have done or that have happened to you. Think back as far in your life as you wish, back to pre-school days through the present day. On your piece of paper, start writing down anything that you remember.
What are you most proud of?
How do you choose to spend your free time?
Have you faced a tough challenge in your life?
The fun part of this activity is that everyone does their wandering map differently. I just googled “wandering map” and hundreds of different styled maps came up.
The map is a chance for introspection AND an opportunity for artistic expression! I was a bit skeptical when I started the activity. It is really hard to decide what experience or memory to write down first. But once I got one memory down (running for ASB president in high school), they all just flowed from there. Step one is just a stream-of-consciousness writing of your memories, experiences, and thoughts. Don’t think too much. I ended up writing about 30 experiences.
Step two is where you look for connections between the experiences. Some will be superficial (example: growing up in Ventura, CA and The Sierras/Whitney Portal). Some will have a bit more depth to them (Theater/Musicals/Show Choir and Teaching Group Fitness, both share a love for public speaking and performance).
Near the end of my brain dump of experiences I had written “Do It Scared,” for my first tattoo and as the motto of my 20’s. I noticed that almost all of my experiences could be tied back to doing it scared.
Running for ASB president against my ex-boyfriend (hi Carson!), so scary
Playing middle & high school basketball (terrifying!!!)
Writing this newsletter! Starting a podcast!
Hiking the John Muir Trail
Biking across Iowa
Moving across the country to go to GW
You get the point. I was shocked by how many of my experiences required me to be brave, or at least, show up. My parents have always said that they are impressed with my ability to show up and I appreciate that compliment. I try new things. I challenge myself. I put myself in uncomfortable positions. I sometimes choose to suffer. I’m not one to shy away from a new experience. My wandering map echoed that sentiment: I may have learned of the phrase “do it scared” in the past year, but it turns out I’ve always been doing it scared. I just didn’t have the words to express that.
The two other themes and patterns that I came across were:
my insatiable appetite for learning (put me back in undergrad and I’ll do it 100 more times)
my desire for connection, friendship, and meaning
Ironically (or not so ironically) two years ago I had decided that my three main values were connection, growth, and learning. To see those three values show up so clearly in this map validated my assessment. I’ve always been people-oriented, obsessed with self-improvement (at times to a fault), and hungry for knowledge. I guess it makes sense that I would wander in those directions in my life.
I personally loved this activity. I’m usually uncomfortable with the lack of structure, but it didn’t really bother me. I find great value in reflecting on the moments that shaped you: the big ones, the small ones, and the seemingly insignificant ones. So here’s my wandering map, please enjoy the scribbles.
Also I made this graphic for fun. Enjoy!
