Sunlight is a project to energize, clarify, and illuminate practical wisdomĀ ā offering a growing set of timeless teachings through original artworks, designed to be viewed and enjoyed by an audience of all ages.
The perennial work of mapping the world is something deeply human. Through our stories, calendars, songs, myths, religions, atlases, almanacs, studies, computer programs, and neural networks, we inherit a rich tradition of artists, scholars, and scientists seeking to make maps about the mysterious kaleidoscope of creation. And although we know that maps can never fully describe the terrain, they can nevertheless help us to navigate, by encoding the experience, knowledge, and wisdom of those who came before.
Some say that mapping is simply an effort to tame the wildness of reality by working to limit and labelĀ ā and certainly, that can sometimes be true. Yet mapping need not be only an exercise in control and contraction; it can also be a way of honoring the exquisite design of creation by embracing it even more closelyĀ ā learning its logic, perceiving its patterns, sensing its harmonies, and sharing those perspectives with others, helping all of us appreciate the gift of human life more deeply.
This special kind of mapping lives in the liminal space between science and spirituality, analysis and aesthetics, description and transmission, cartography and worship. It reaches us from time to time throughout history, appearing in various fields of study and practice, with an energetic signature that quietly signals its presence.
All maps begin with a journey, so the maps of this project begin with my own. Yet unlike the ambitious atlases of old, the purpose of this collection of maps is not to be comprehensive, but open-ended and ever-evolvingĀ ā providing a space for the seasons of learning that move through my own path in life, mixing with the paths of others.
The first āmapā of this project is a simple teaching called CirclesĀ ofĀ CareĀ ā a principle for scaling attention, starting with the physical body and gradually moving outwards from there. In time, many other teachings will be added as well, in a range of interactive and illustrated formats, both digitally and in print.
At their best, I hope these offerings can be simple enough to read to children, yet practical enough to speak to our modern lives, yet open-ended enough to be a source of contemplation even as we enter older age.
The format of creating this project gives me a way to keep learning and growing, while also providing a structure for sharing and teaching, while also using the arts that I loveĀ ā drawing, painting, and codingĀ ā to honor the topics that Iām lucky enough to explore and discover.
I call this project Sunlight because because sunlight is something that supports us allĀ ā transcending our myriad individual paths and our many different traditions. Sunlight is the basis of everything we see and experience in the physical world, as the universal source of color and life. Since ancient times, the sun has been a primary symbol of the Creator, as it continues to be throughout the indigenous world today. It also gives us a metaphor for the way we experience our everyday livesĀ ā each of us, like a sun, creating a personal world, as all of our sunlight mixes together, co-creating our collective reality.
They say that maps donāt map worlds, but that maps make worlds. I hope the worlds that emerge from the maps of this project can be worlds of beauty and peaceĀ ā offering inspiration and guidance for all.
ā Jonathan J. Harris, October 2024
JonathanĀ J.Ā Harris (b. 1979) is an artist, technologist, and scholar inspired by the synthesis of universal principles and patterns. He lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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