The blog where I finally tell you about Cat Maps!

 The year is coming to a close, and I have so many things to gush about. I have been running around a lot lately, and noticed I was starting to stray from retaining my mindful strategy. I had a wonderful and gentle reminder of this from a good friend of mine (thank you, Nancy) and it was just enough to bring me back to center and continue to do things from a place of being mindful. For instance, I have been crafting my own stretch routine to get my body back in dance mode. I have not danced consistently for about ten years now, so this is a big deal for my now 36 year old body. I used to take and teach dance class 5/6 days a week at the height of my dancing. It is such a special piece of who I am and how I walk through this world, I never thought I would have stopped for so long. But, other career things were happening and there just finally came a pointe where I had to give it up in my schedule for a while. But now, my career is progressing, graduate school is over, and I can start to re-incorporate these important elements. The difficult part is doing it in a smart way. I can't just jump back into a full barre routine without working on my strength and flexibility first. I could easily get hurt, knowing what my body used to be able to do, and it could take twice as long to regain some of my lost flexibility. I will craft an entire blog and vlog piece documenting my mindful journey of regaining my flexibility, so stay tuned for it! It will hopefully be something that others can use if they want to work on flexibility and they can't already put their leg behind their head. I am really excited to put this together. 

My mindfulness right now consists of realizing how much I am doing when I start to get down on myself for not doing enough, or not doing well enough. This daily check-in and reminder to myself has been crucial in keeping my spirits up when my energy is down. Taking it slow some days to restore some energy is necessary, so if you need this reminder as well, please remember to be gentle with yourself while you are recharging your solar panels.

And now, on to the main topic of this post, as promised - Cat Maps! 

Ok, what even is this thing I call Cat Maps that I keep talking about??

Cat Maps is my nonprofit. It is still in its infancy, but I think it is viable enough that I can start to talk about it. What I am doing is making web maps for cat rescues across Chicagoland to map their TNR data. You may recall from a previous post that I did my master's thesis on TNR in Chicago. So, now I am finally able to take my research to the next level. My thesis is published through ProQuest, but unless you have a university email I don't think you can access it freely. Because of this, I recorded my thesis and uploaded it on my YouTube channel. That way, anyone can have access to the project and data. You can listen to my thesis chapter by chapter for free, here. But now, I am finally getting the ball rolling on the next step, and the nonprofit side of it. My first client is Cats In Action, nfp. I have been working with their TNR and cat rescue data and have created a few dynamic web maps for them to use to track their intakes. I am also excited to share that one day next week I will be going on a trapping trip with Liz Houtz from Cats In Action (yay!). I will be documenting our TNR process and posting a video. So, keep an eye out for that, too! Check out the Cats In Action Hoodie that I received. I just love this. I have always worn cat rescue sweatshirts from adopting felines over the years, so it is really something special to be on the other side of the rescue mission. If you want to look as feline fabulous as I do, you can get your hoodie here and support the cats! 

My goal with Cat Maps is to be able to do this for cat rescues across Chicagoland to keep the TNR data organized and efficient. This goes along the lines of having a 'controlled TNR' process that I suggest in my research. It will make it much better for ordinances, rescues, and so the cats. I truly believe this element of cohesion will be a great help. I am also looking for sponsors for this nonprofit map project. Company and individual sponsors will make it so much easier for me to keep producing these maps for each organization. And, for the public, there will me a dynamic web map I update online that shows where you can go for TNR resources according to your location, and the impact of TNR in that area. This public web map will also list any company sponsors as elements in the map. So, if you are looking to help get TNR data organized and resources accessible, as well as adding your logo and information to the map, please send me an email at CatMapsChicago@gmail.com to set something up. I am really looking forward to working with sponsors to keep this effort going strong. If you would like to contribute to this effort as an individual, I would also be so grateful. Every little bit helps to keep things progressing. If you would like to contribute a one-time donation to Cat Maps, click here. 

Currently, the web maps are exclusively being used internally. Once I have a public map ready to go live, I will share that with you all. And hopefully, I will have a sponsor or two on the map, as well! This will be a really neat and user-friendly way for anyone interested in TNR in Chicago to find resources and trapping support. 

Check out Cat Maps on the website and please like and follow Cat Maps on Facebook. 

I hope you appreciated this blog post! It is a very special project for me, and it means so much to me that it is finally starting to unfold. I hope you follow along with me as I bring my dreams into reality!

If you appreciate having this consistent content, would you consider supporting my work? You can "Buy Me A Coffee" and I will be SO grateful. If you leave your name, I can give you a shout out in the next blog post! 

Mindfully,
~Amanda

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Amanda Vander Kelen, MA is a geographer/GIS Specialist and now blogger. She creates a work/life balance by using her creativity in both making maps and writing blogs. Taking a mindful approach to life, she hopes you can utilize her writing to help create a peaceful space of your own.
To show support for this blog, would you consider donating? Donate here.

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