Journal Entry 10.29.23

Maps occur across time. In the 1980’s I remember seeing a map of inner Borneo and it was blank. “No data available for this area” was printed in the white space at the center of the island. I felt so relieved. At that moment in time I lived in a world where there were placed that were still un-”known”. Now I can zoom in on Google Earth and see every square mile of Borneo.

Paths change also. Our trek up into Tsum the path reflected the late monsoons with sections washed out and the path thin from the rains erosion. Weeks later we returned and the people and horses had worth the path into different, wider paths. Where rocks had fallen paths now went around the fallen boulders. Waterfalls pushed the path closer to the downward edge.

I am trying to map myself now. I know that my map is an accumulation of self. It includes the places I’ve gone, the things I identify with, the colors I see, the stories I’ve heard, the people I’ve met. In mapping myself, I am mapping, not something static and stationary, but something changeable, like water or weather.