Gathering for a MAP by David Hasbury

In the beginning, there is a blank page.
MAPS is a chance to create a moment when people can sit together, (in a way that they usually don't), to remember, think, imagine and chart a course together. We can capture words, images and colours that can remind us of this moment. In the center we find a person's life and story, hopes and dreams. There is something deeply profound in doing this. It is not unlike artists sitting with a landscape, a model, a thought, or feeling, and allowing an image, sculpture, poem to emerge that can capture the moment. In MAPS we are all co-creating. But when we begin the page before us is blank, and the co-creative moment we share is a moment of discovery.
As facilitator I work to make the co-creation easy, to keep us focused on the person who has gathered us, to allow the richness to emerge, to ensure that the picture we leave behind represents the moment we shared together.

Journey to a foreign landscape.
While there is something wonderful about this co-creation, there is also something very foreign about it. Drawing attention to ourselves is foreign. Creating together is foreign. Sharing our story in a group is foreign. Uncovering the hopes held in our dreams, and the vulnerability captured in our nightmares is foreign. That is why I sense a kinship between MAPS and art. Artists, painters, poets, sculptors, musicians and dancers, often enter into this kind of exposure. And they are courageous in so doing.
So to begin doing MAPS I feel a need to recognize that I am inviting people into foreign territory. As facilitator I am beginning to make it easy for people to enter this new and unfamiliar space. There is so much anxiety about entering this space, particularly for the individual at the center who is inspiring us to come together, and those who love them. It is a very vulnerable place and time. I must remember this.

Tuning our ears to hear
It is important for me to try to meet with the person who will be at the center before we sit with the circle. It doesn't have to be a long meeting, just long enough to establish some trust that I know how vulnerable they are in doing this and that I will keep this knowledge with me, front and center, through the whole process. It is a chance for me to learn a little about how they communicate, and who knows the way that they "speak" best, who could best support their voice in being heard.
The night before Jasmine's MAP, I went to her house to meet her, Tamara and Jim (her parents), and her sister. Tamara knew that Jasmine talking to a stranger could pose a problem. When Jasmine is comfortable, she loves to talk, but if she is not sure about you, she can be very shy and not speak at all. Meeting Jasmine in her home was important It gave me time to think and reflect on what I could do to make Jasmine more comfortable, not only with me but all of the other people who would be present with us. I learned about her relationships with her Mom and Dad, and so when we gathered for the MAP I was able to make room for her Dad and Mom to direct the questions when she seemed to be shy. Her Dad made room for her to share about something important to her, and soon she was singing.

Collecting the artists
In a pre-MAPS visit I get the chance to explore the matter of who are the best people to be present. I can review the "circles" exercise which surfaces a whole range of possible people that could be invited. And then we can pause and think about who would be the "right" people to be present. Which of these people could bring safety, or new perspectives, or contacts? Which of these people leave the focus person with a sense of being cared for, a feeling of being respected, liked, even admired?
The invitation of people to a MAPS session needs to be well thought out. Sometimes the obvious choices are not the right ones. The teaching assistant might be too controlling, a sister or brother may be in a difficult time within the relationship, and for adults a parent might not be able to see this person as an adult who needs to expand, grow and move on. The pre-MAPS visit allows me the opportunity to raise the consciousness about who we are inviting and why, always remembering that the MAPS session is simply a moment in time, and that at another time we might invite other people. Ultimately, the choice of who is invited and why rests with the focus person. But in asking the questions I am learning about who this person is, and what is important to them.

Focusing our intention to gather
This pre-session visit also allows me the opportunity to explore ways to invite people with the person at the center or those closest to them. What are we really asking people to do when we invite them to our MAPS session? The clearer that we can be about our invitation, the more likely we will get "yes" as a response. I have learned that this is one of the greatest obstacles to MAPS, the fear that we will be rejected. We can explore the ways that we can ask or invite that will most likely receive "yes" as a response. In MAPS we are sharing stories, imagining the future, reflecting about who the focus person is, and planning some steps that could their life forward.
When we are doing MAPS, we are not expecting big commitments (even though we might hope for big ones), but we are exploring the opportunities for small commitments, things that we all could do that could help. If we can line people up to be working in the same direction, doing whatever they can, however small, we will find ourselves moving forward. Each move forward in the same direction can create momentum, and lead us to places we never imagined.
If we are successful in MAPS, we will have clarified "why" it is so important to act, and "what direction" should we line ourselves up. MAPS is an opportunity to think about what is important. The people invited are called because the person at the center respects them, and in turn feels respected. The person at the center feels that the invited guest has something to offer, even if it is only a perspective.

Preparing our minds for stories
In a pre-MAPS meeting I am looking to gain a brief sense of what is happening now that would cause us to think that a MAP is a good thing to do. I want to know a little bit of the story. I want to prime the pump by getting the focus person and those closest to them to think a little bit about stories that will help us all to get a better sense of where they have been, who they are, and provide clues about their future.
Our time will be limited in a MAPS session, so in the pre-meeting I want to help frame the storytelling section in a way that can help the focus person to concentrate on what is important. I want the person to think about a few (3 or 4) moments, scenes, or periods in their life that were important to them and could give us all a clue about who they are. And then I want them to think about images or symbols that might reflect or remind us all about that story. This is homework. I don't need to talk about these stories in the pre-meeting. The question can percolate until we meet as a group.

Creating a space that can honour the sacred
And finally I want to focus on what could make the moment comfortable enough for the person at the center to be vulnerable. What could make the environment safe? Music, pictures, refreshments, important objects, light might help to remind us all of who is at the center and help us to stay focused. Since life is at the center of a MAPS gathering, there is certain reverence that I feel, and I want all of us to know that there is something sacred in sharing life in this way.
In meeting before a MAPS session, I want to know who I will be creating with. The people present are both the co-creators and the material. Each one holds pieces of life and experience that will be shared, not unlike the colours on a painting. We will all be the art and the artist. Knowing who has called this gathering together by their life experience, is absolutely essential to me as a facilitator. I don't need all of the detail, just a brief sense of the essence so that we will remain faithful to who this person is as we begin to gaze into the future. At the end of a pre-meeting I need a sense of who and what we will be working with. Yet still we will have a blank page to begin MAPS.

And still we have a blank page.