On August 5, 2009, a San Francisco psychiatrist died when he piloted his Cessna 182 into a hillside not far from the Napa County Airport. In 2010 the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that Dr. Kenneth Ira Gottlieb crashed because he lost situational awareness shortly after taking off. That a psychiatrist died “because he lost situational awareness” is both tragic and ironic.
Situational awareness is a psychological term. It is also an intuitive concept. Coaches want their players to be “aware” of the situation: How many outs, how many on base, how many strikes on the batter; How many seconds left on the clock, how many yards to a first down, how many defensive backs in the game; How many fouls for each player, how many people playing outside or under the net, how many three-pointers are needed. Knowing the situation enhances the players’ performances. Knowing the situation is a function of mental mapping, and it is a key to living without problems.
Mental mapping is not just the process of knowing the physical details of place. It is also process of knowing the quality of place. You could be located in a nunnery, but not find peace among nuns bickering over the folding of an altar cloth. You could be in a ghetto, but find wealth in the kindness of a grandmother. And you could be in the heart of academia, yet find folly.
Mental mapping is more than remembering where one put the car keys. It is more than establishing a pattern that enables one to navigate in the dark from bedroom to the kitchen for a nighttime snack. Effective mental mapping means incorporating all the elements of place, including its living inhabitants, its benefits, and its dangers. Most importantly, effective mental mapping involves a realistic understanding of how one fits into place, how one’s involvement in place effects a change in both self and place, and how one uses the elements of place to live successfully.
So, today, ask yourself: “What is my relationship to place and situation?” Your answer might be a key to living without problems.
Situational awareness is a psychological term. It is also an intuitive concept. Coaches want their players to be “aware” of the situation: How many outs, how many on base, how many strikes on the batter; How many seconds left on the clock, how many yards to a first down, how many defensive backs in the game; How many fouls for each player, how many people playing outside or under the net, how many three-pointers are needed. Knowing the situation enhances the players’ performances. Knowing the situation is a function of mental mapping, and it is a key to living without problems.
Mental mapping is not just the process of knowing the physical details of place. It is also process of knowing the quality of place. You could be located in a nunnery, but not find peace among nuns bickering over the folding of an altar cloth. You could be in a ghetto, but find wealth in the kindness of a grandmother. And you could be in the heart of academia, yet find folly.
Mental mapping is more than remembering where one put the car keys. It is more than establishing a pattern that enables one to navigate in the dark from bedroom to the kitchen for a nighttime snack. Effective mental mapping means incorporating all the elements of place, including its living inhabitants, its benefits, and its dangers. Most importantly, effective mental mapping involves a realistic understanding of how one fits into place, how one’s involvement in place effects a change in both self and place, and how one uses the elements of place to live successfully.
So, today, ask yourself: “What is my relationship to place and situation?” Your answer might be a key to living without problems.
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