A New Kind of Mapping
A moodle trusting the meander to show you what you didn’t know you were looking for - when that side project turns into a revelation!
Hello dear moodling friends,
If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know that Mappery began as a place for maps and stories. They were small explorations of how we find our way through life by moodling, noticing, and making meaning from the everyday.
Over time, I’ve begun to see that maps are not always map-shaped - at least not in the traditional sense! 😁
Let me explain.
Way back in January 2022, I joined a creative photography group on Instagram called Fused by Me, a project led by photographer Natalie Robinson. The idea was simple: create one double-exposure image every Friday. The image could be made “in camera” or blended later using software or apps. But the rhythm was weekly, every week. Here we are, over three years later, still posting every Friday. I’ve made nearly 200 “fusions”.
And somewhere along the way, I realised something remarkable. My life and growth over the last 3 years has been mapped by these images - even though they aren’t map-like at all.
What began as a side project has quietly become a very abstract form of visual journaling, a living record of my days, moods, and inner weather. These fusions have witnessed and mirrored my life in ways I could never have planned.
They’ve become visual moodles … the kind that trust the meander to show you what you didn’t know you were looking for.
Introducing Visual Moodling and the Alchemy of Listening
When I look at these images with what I know now, and my experience of the last 3 years, I see that often two worlds meet: the outer image (made of layered snapshots of my life) fuses with a reflection of my inner landscape (thoughts, emotions, beliefs) at the time I made the fusion. Recently, I’ve taken to thumbing through my library of images, re-engaging with them at a different level.
That’s what led me to create a new framework: The Responsive Gaze, and with it, a new offering: the Alchemy of Listening. I’m so excited about both!
The Alchemy of Listening will be a free, self-paced email series, designed as a visual journey exploring stillness, connection, and creative noticing. In each email, you’ll receive one of my fusion images, a few lines of reflection, and a gentle prompt to help you pause and listen to what you see. At the heart of the series is The Responsive Gaze which is a calm, practice that encourages us to listen to what we see, and to notice how paying attention can quietly change what we feel.
The new series will be available soon. Once it’s available, you can join the series at any time. Your friends can join it at any time. It will be waiting for you (and them) without deadlines or launch dates. There is no FOMO here.
An ever widening map of Mappery
This new series lives in a fresh section here on Mappery called Visual Moodling. It’s where I’ll share short visual stories that draw on the images that have been quietly mapping my life.
As Mappery keeps unfolding, I’ll keep weaving maps, stories, and visual moodles together. Hopefully, all as gentle ways to notice beauty, find our rhythm, and make sense of who and where we are.
Thank you for continuing to moodle alongside me. The map is widening, but the spirit of moodling remains the same.
I hope to connect with you again soon.
Know someone who would love to this? Please feel free to share.
Debs Stott: translating sensory experience into creative conversation
Oh, I love the sound of this :)