Here is the image for the May Invite to Write:
Our symbol for this month is map.
Maps show us where to go, where we are, and how to get elsewhere. At the same time, a map is a much more abstract object than it seems. Maps are an expedient logic imposed on an unruly world. Where we expect that maps provide an accurate representation of topography, they are inherently flawed, distorting geography in order to be able to communicate its existence. Maps are a visual language, and like language itself it both approximates the abstract for the sake of expediency while also straightforwardly presents facts at the same time. Maps can represent non-physical entities as well. They can represent thought patterns, conceptions of histories, and the structures of data. They point in all of these cases to the very real abstraction that happens when we try to reflect our experiences of the physical world. This month, we encourage you to think about your creative process in conversation with mapping, how your own attempts to reflect your physical, emotional, and spiritual experiences are abstracted by metaphor and by the need to communicate.
Here is a link to the ARAS Record of this image:
I am a member but was not allowed to access the record of the image.