Be an explorer
I had my first solo produced recording session yesterday and had maps on the brain from my reading of Shane Parrish’s mental models books. In the first of these books, Parrish presents a mental model from cartography: the map is not the territory.
“Maps are an abstraction, which means information is lost in order to save space. So perhaps the most important thing we can do before reading a map is to stop and consider what choices have been made in the representation before us.” —Shane Parrish
In short, maps are representations of territories made by people who have done their own research and exploration. When we are following driving directions and google maps tells us to continue onto a closed road, we follow the territory and the map adjusts. This concept can be useful for much more. We are given “maps” for career/academic directions, societal expectations, news/politics/world views, etc. but rarely do we step back and see it as information that was already curated and simplified, let alone ask ourselves who is the cartographer.
When I was in music school (both undergraduate and graduate programs) I was constantly collecting information about “how to become a singer” and what it meant to make “artistic choices.” It never occurred to me to doubt the cartographers. I know that sounds terribly naïve, but it is the truth. I felt deeply connected to the music I was making and the colleagues I was working with, but I was a sheep just following directions and desperate to understand how to “make it.” So, looking at the cartographers gives me a clarity and perspective that frees up the unknowns and even activates an explorer within myself. Can I live in a way where I am my own cartographer?
Ok, back to my commute to the recording studio…
Simultaneously on the brain has been my recent favorite quote by Rilke about loving and living the questions.
*“Be patient towards all that is unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms, like books written in a foreign tongue. Do not now strive to uncover answers: they cannot be given you because you have not been able to live them. And what matters is to live everything. Live the questions for now. Perhaps then you will gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer, one distant day in the future.” —Rainer Maria Rilke
So, I’m driving to record and doubting myself — ever faithful to the School of Imposter Syndrome — but this time, I see it differently. I realize that if you don’t have the map, it is easy to feel lost or seek another map but there is another perspective: be an explorer. An explorer is out in the world making their own map and meticulously noting all they learn for the benefit of future explorers! There is incredible freedom in seeing unknowns as territories to explore. And remember that explorers aren’t reckless; they rely on experience, guides, companions, and other maps that might apply to this situation. Prepare as best you can and try to think ahead to what would support you; use the maps you have with an understanding that they are maps from a different territory and may not apply directly or at all; have a sense of adventure for the unknown instead of apologizing and doubting yourself; trust your local guides!
Honestly, having this mindset liberated myself in a way that I had not expected. When we don’t acknowledge the maps we are using, it is impossible to see the limitations of their support. It is also very easy to get lost in the the Thomas-Guide (I’m dating myself now!) of our brains and not really see the territory with true clarity. Simply identifying which “maps” were specialized and may or may not directly apply gave me a sense of grounding and confidence that allowed me to be a worthy student of my local guides. The recording session was a huge success and I felt confident in the maps I trusted and attentive to the details I needed to add to some new territories!