The Everyday Mavericks

  What is a map? A map records a journey, helping us discover new places while marking places of significance. It reminds us where we've been, what we've learned, and how to find our way again. "Not every X marks a place of loss. Sometimes it marks a place of value." Why did pirates make treasure maps? Hollywood would have us believe they drew them so someone else could search for buried treasure. But the real purpose of a treasure map was far more practical. It was a record of where something valuable had been intentionally placed so that it could be found again. The X did not mark loss; it marked value. The map was the key. Lose the treasure and you could still recover it if you had the map. Lose the map, however, and even the greatest treasure could remain out of reach. In many ways, grief works like that. Most of us associate grief with death. We think of funerals, tragedy and life-changing events. Yet grief quietly accompanies us through ordinary life far more o...