the story behind the heART: You are here.

The sound of familiar voices and American accents reached my ears - welcome tendrils over and between the sounds of water lapping against the boardwalk. I stood there, unable to tell which direction the sound was coming from. I must be close, I mused. But I was also lost—two things that seemed antithetical.

I was already flustered coming late from another event. I felt lucky to be included in what I hoped would be an incredible networking opportunity and some excellent food. Without cellular data while traveling internationally, I’d resorted to analog methods to navigate: verbal directions, screenshots of maps, and a free city guide grabbed from the hotel desk. 

About 20 steps away, I saw a public map on an outdoor message-type board. Excellent, I surmised. I would use the map plus the address of the gathering’s location to find my way to my intended destination since, by the sound of the voices, it must be close.

I arrived at the large map and began searching for the generally universal and ubiquitous “YOU ARE HERE” with an associated red dot or triangle or pin of some sort. What's a map without an orientation to the reader?

Alas, this map had NOTHING for me to locate myself amongst the lines. I started literally laughing out loud -  how could it be I was close enough to occasionally get snippets of a good time being had I could not find my way to the gathering?

In my laughter and confusion and being totally lost, I mused to myself “YOU ARE HERE”. You are boardwalk beneath your feet, breeze off the water, lost AF, and right here. It was such a fun meta moment to realize that with or without the excellent wayfinding I had been searching for, I had an internal “pin” to locate me in a place.

When I returned home, I cut this stencil and have been making and posting these signs all over as reminders to myself - YOU ARE HERE. No phone needed. No red dot or pin. You are here.