Maps and markers

Even when a trail is obvious, it may not be clear where it is going.

This weekend my husband and I went for a walk through the woods from the cabin to the village.  There are a few options for trails and each trail clearly is going in the right general direction.  Until the trail we chose appeared to come to an end.  There were paths to take, but none were a continuation of the trail itself.  So we choose different paths and off we went.  (He choose the road and I choose to go off-road.)

I have to confess that my off-road choice involved a little bit of trespassing.  I have travelled through here before and my trail-sense knew that if I went a little further I would be in familiar territory.  I just had to traverse some land that a developer had put a road on (and removed the trail).  Before long I was on the trail in the picture above.

It is a beautiful trail, fully alive.  I immediately spotted two deer on the move.  Then a rabbit stopped to look at me.  I came upon a wonderful fallen tree full of fungi and a wasp nest.  I even noticed that as I came closer to civilization there were benches.

So a trail is always going somewhere, but is it going where you think?  In my case I knew I was going to end up at the store.  And I did and found my husband there.

What I found along the trail was significant for me personally.  I started to think about trail markers and their role.  I have contemplated their role before, but this was a timely reminder.

It occurred to me that as I write every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this month for the Integral City Expo and eLab, as part of the emerging Integral City Collective, I am serving as a trail marker.  Our on-line conference aims to make meaning of what we are learning along the way, and my job is to begin the process of harvesting the meaning we make each day, each week and for the month of September.  (The event lasts Sep 4-27).

It is my job to help provide maps and markers for people as they make their way through the oodles of content coming each day and the comments, questions and observations that people will be sharing this month.

Maps and markers.  This is a big job and I am looking forward to it.

_____ _____ _____

For readers interested in the Integral City Collective and our September activities, please explore our website.  50 visionaries are joining us to explore the evolutionary intelligences of the city.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.