Orienteering
Artist
Since I stopped using a smartphone a couple of years ago, I’ve returned to an old habit of drawing very basic, hastily scribbled maps to plot a route when I go somewhere new or new-ish. I’m not very good at cognitive mapping, and I’ve moved between cities a lot. I often need visual representations of space to make my way through the world. Sometimes these hand-drawn routes work well; other times I wind up off course and have to figure things out.
Coming back to this habit has reacquainted me with a state of mind that I now recognize as really generative for writing: there’s a particular kind of noticing that comes from being mostly on the right track but precariously oriented, I think. I rarely come away from a hand-mapped journey without some scrap of language or image that interests me.
When a person follows a route they know well (say: on a commute), moving on autopilot can clear room for inward focus and daydreaming. On the other hand, when a person deliberately studies their environment or meanders through it without purpose (think: flâneur), they might project their focus outward to observe the world around them.
This orienteering exercise is designed to provoke a form of attention that sits between these poles, allowing you to encounter points of interest in both your inner life and the outer world.
Suzannah Showler is the author of two collections of poetry and a book of cultural criticism. Her first novel, Quality Time, was published by McClelland & Stewart in 2023. She lives on unceded Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) land (Vancouver) with her family.
Suzannah Showler
Orient yourself precariously.
Invitation
Pick a place to go that is not overly familiar to you. You might choose a single destination, or you might pick several within reachable distance of one another. (You can also fold this exercise into your everyday life and do something practical, like run an errand.)
Draw a simple map (by hand) indicating where you will go and how you will get there, using as few details as you think you can make do with. If you have a smartphone, either leave it behind (recommended, if at all possible) or delete any mapping apps before proceeding to Step 3.
Go to your destination(s). Use your hand-drawn map as a reference, as needed. Keep yourself attuned and ready to collect as many or as few of the following as you wish: a question, an answer, a repetition, an affront, an image, an overhearing, a coincidence, an invention, a disruption, an expectation, an object, an imprint.
Items may be recorded in language or through some other means. You may find them within your mental or physical environment.
Use your collected items to create something new, or save them for future use.