Sheila Smith / The Map is not the Territory*

There was something about the Knoydart trip that took me a while to “get”. In my previous experiences of group excursions into wild places, it was only a matter of time before maps made their appearance. Released from rucksacks or map cases, they not only represented space, they took over space, unmanageable wads of unruly paper, fluttering uncontrollably, wrapping themselves randomly and never re-folding themselves back into the same configuration. Map readers trying to get a grip on where they were and pin down where they were going.

So the magenta pink 1:50,000 is a surprise omission from the packing list and from the environs of the Old Byre, leaving more space for us.

But Dave’s apparent lack of interest in maps makes me realise. We don’t need maps here because the map is not the territory and we are here to experience the land directly without the conceptual overlay or mediating influence of the OS Landranger. We are here to make our own maps, from our beliefs, our original perceptions and constructions and the sets of relationships we create.

 Just as there is the slightly surprising realisation that Knoydart exists both before and after us, there is a cognitive shift, an “aha” moment of experiencing the landscape from a sea approach, a stalkers’ path, a drove road or a direct ascent.  A further reconceptualisation to make the map from the solo perspective, from immediate, direct, sensed, touched, viewed, heard and smelled experience.  So we will be taking our own maps back from Knoydart, maps which, being drawn in our minds, don’t fly in our faces or demand advanced origami skills.

 * Alfred Korzybski , 1931