Hengeify
Hengeify, Doodlehengeify: to playfully celebrate the places you go
My husband is a friendly, playful and creative guy. Two of his favorite pastimes are walking our adorable little Labradoodle Finnigan, and discovering and mapping new places on Google Maps. One often involves the other.
John will review parks and restaurants and trails and stores and banks and coffee shops. Most of his posts include photos of the place, and most of his photos include Finnigan.
Over the years, he has mapped and named patches on mountainsides, unclaimed trails and even parks.
Once, John mapped and named a little park in the town in the prairies where his father was born. And when his genealogically-inclined cousins discovered their namesake, it sparked a whole lot of happiness, for them and for us. The cousins were excited about the park, and John and I were delighted to see how easy it had been to literally put it on the map, and that doing so was brightening the world of others, too. And so, he kept at it.
Today, John is a Google Maps Local Guide Level 8. He has posted more than 450 reviews, 200 videos, 3000 photos, added more than 30 new spots, and had more than 40 million views of his various contributions. Forty million. I joke about it, and sometimes even find it funny that he has become a maestro of the only social media that can’t be monetized. Oh well!
When we are out walking, John photographs Finnigan. As soon as he pulls out his phone, she steps into place and strikes a pose. She’ll hold the pose, look this way and that, and we could swear she’s smizing. Of course, she always gets a treat when she complies.
Last fall, we found a trail we hadn’t walked before. Along the way, John spotted something and Finnigan posed. He snapped away as I kept walking, and they caught up to me soon after. On our way back to the car, he pointed the spot out to me: a beautiful stone circle arranged in a spiral pattern.
Later that afternoon, John posted his photo to Google Maps. He named it “Doodlehenge,” and described it as an energy vortex and historical landmark. Since it was posted, Doodlehenge boasts a four-and-a-half star-rating, has had half a dozen reviews, and been described as “spiritual,” “sacred” and “amazing.”
If you map it, will they come?
You won’t know until you try!
So go ahead and Mappify. Celebrate the places you go.