THE CRABAPPLE CHAPEL: AN AUTOBIOGEOGRAPHY?

I learned a new word today: AUTOBIOGEOGRAPICAL. As you might suspect, it combines autobiography and geography to focus on  the geolocation of personal experiences such as travel, personal migration or important happenings.

Some people write their autobiogeographies by mapping, using an online social map service like Platial Maps. This is a free resource where hundreds of thousands of people around the world share and discover all kinds of Places. Anyone can map just about anything, including their towns, lives, travels, feeds, files, photos, video and stories in one simple interface. Others of us may still prefer to write in journals the old fashioned way. Even so, we often emphasize geography and The Spirit of Place. Regardless of the method we choose, our stories matter, and our stories are shaped by our physical environment.

Landmarks, neighborhoods, and streetscapes are the surroundings that shape our everyday story. How we celebrate  these locales tells us and others about the world we live in, the path we’ve traveled. For some of us this might mean putting push pins on a map to show the places we’ve lived and worked and visited. For others, it might mean telling stories of where to find the best Halloween pumpkins instead of streets or houses. We might remember how the shoreline smells or what the neighbor was baking. For the tourist, it might mean savoring the tastes and smells of restaurants in Istanbul or Athens or recalling the soundscape of Old San Juan or Old Havana.

As you might have noticed, many of these ways of mapping our world play out right in our own backyard or neighborhood. Everyone of us has heard the expression “life is a journey.” In fact, it’s been repeated so often that it sounds more than just a little bit trite. But travel writers from Homer and his Odyssey in the 8th century BC to Elizabeth Gilbert and Eat, Pray, Love in 2007 have all emphasized that personal journeys do matter. Traveling is not just about the trips we take or the places we visit when we’re on vacation. It’s also about the road we travel through life, the traditions and culture we grew up with and the heritage we leave for future generations. Our personal journey does matter, and it’s not at all trite.

Travelogues — or road journals — have always been popular, especially the ones that settle into a locality for an extended period, allowing us to absorb a Sense of Place. In the language of ‘slow travel,’  we become rooted in community and respectful of the spirit and customs of local residents.

One such travelogue — autobiogeography really — is the story of Dan Evans. Dan moved to East Harlem in the 1960s and has never turned back. Take a look and listen. You might find that you have an AUTOBIOGEOGRAPHY of your own that you’d like to tell.

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