Personal Geography

Perhaps the most distracting aspect (at least on a daily basis) of geography for me is the concept of Personal Geography, the value we place on locations in our mind. This concept is strongly tied to the psychology of place, and the emotions behind spatial thinking. If you asked a room full of your friends to draw a map of your town, the result would be a distinct variety of maps. Humans often have a tendency to place a larger emphasis on locations they are familiar with, of places that have emotional ties for them. These places loom larger in our minds, are drawn bigger on our maps.



My map of Douglas, WY (my residence) would highlight my place of employment, the places I like to play, and the church I attend. Your map of Douglas may emphasis your house, where you shop, the road you run. We are both drawing the same location, through a filter of personal experience. On a larger scale, we rewrite these maps every day. Our personal geography expands, our paths differ. It changes our perspectives, much as we can change our locations. This is developed into the creation of personal "niches". The places or geography where we feel most at home, most like ourselves. These niches are filled with strong emotion and very familiar.

My niche formed around the rural ranch where I grew up, extending from there to the college town and university I attended, to the mountains that became my playground. I'm in the midst of a change of focus in my geography, moving into a new house and developing a new relationship. It is already beginning to change the paths of movement I create. Yet in the midst of change, there is 3rd dimension to my personal map. My constant is straight up, the z axis being my tie to God.