There are some lonesome roads connecting the memories of my time growing up in California's San Joaquin Valley. The roads are narrow and lined with dry weeds, and they are hot beneath the feet - hot enough to fry an egg on. Of course I never fried an egg on a road, or on a sidewalk, either, and I don't know anyone who has. But I've ridden a squeaky bicycle through the countryside for miles and miles, and have just managed to escape having my legs ripped off by ferocious dogs, who know their territory and guard it well.

One such road is Road 66, which is roughly two miles west of the house where I grew up. Road 66 runs north and south, and is lined with vineyards and orchards on both sides. It is a road that lies dreaming beneath the cloudless summer sky, where it waits an hour, sometimes more, for a car, a truck, or a tractor to pass by. In between, there are the nervous feet of sunburned boys looking for something to do. There are jackrabbits and crows, squirrels and snakes, pheasants, quail, and coyotes. Often, there is no breeze. Everything bakes. The atmosphere bends above the sticky, black surface, and in the distance mirages form, making the road look like it passes through a lake..... Extract from A Map of My Heart by William Michaelian

Create a Map of Your Heart

As a part of the Creative Armoury Project students are asked to not only arm the outside of their mannequins but to express what lies within. In 2004 Ryan Camelliri took the project to new heights when he welded a steel heart, with a red symbol, inside the cavity of his mannequin.

Then he explored what lay close to his heart and wrote an extended piece which mapped his feelings.

Try mapping your heart by using a model or a drawing and then write using William Michaelian's piece as a template.

Maps of the Heart

A Map of My Heart by William Michaelian