A paean to getting lost
A paean to getting lost
The human beings we admire most have been willing to take the risk of getting lost in their pursuit of new ground.
I love my GPS. Even though sometimes it takes me on strange, less-than-optimal routes, I still consider GPS a blessing. I love that I’m never lost, just “re-routing.”
But I have been thinking lately about what we’ve lost in this brave new world where we are never lost.
The truth is that there is value in being lost—whether in literally straying off the highway or being figuratively lost in one’s life trajectory.
In the context of education, I remember getting lost in the stacks of the giant NYU library as a graduate student. I would consult the huge card catalogue on the main floor, and head upstairs into the stacks with my lists of call numbers, usually in the B’s or the P’s, but the fun would begin when I allowed myself to stray from the rigidly organized alphanumeric call numbers and indulge my curiosity, reading the titles on the spines of the books and pulling out the ones that interested me.
I rarely wander through the stacks in a library anymore, in this era when we are taught to refine our searches so that we don’t get lost in the overwhelming flood of possible information.
The last time I remember such a wander was one rainy day in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, when I went into the little local library looking for Jung, and came away with the first volume of Jane Roberts’ Seth series, which happened to be shelved right next to Jung’s Red Book.
That chance find set me off on a decade of comparative research into those modern mystics known as “psychics,” who receive direct transmissions of knowledge (and sometimes wisdom) from the non-physical realm.
It was just where I needed to go, but I would never have found my way there if I hadn’t gotten lost along the way.
What happens when we never allow our young people to get lost, or to be lost? We teach them a form of “learned helplessness,” where they do not develop the skills needed to find their way back again. They never learn the joy that comes with exploring new terrain by stepping away from the beaten path.
I’m not advocating for deliberately straying into dangerous situations. Sometimes it is better to stick with GPS and stay on the highway.
But there are many scenarios where it’s possible to allow oneself to explore in an open-ended way, without a destination already marked out, learning how to tune in to one’s intuition while allowing synchronicity and serendipity to play out.
Especially in creative endeavors, we don’t have to have it all figured out in advance. We don’t have to always know where we are going as we find our way through a book project, a painting or an experiment.
Yes, it’s true, there is risk involved.
But the human beings we admire most, who have been most influential and impactful, are those who have been willing to take risks in their pursuit of innovation.
Sometimes it’s necessary to turn off the GPS or the AI chatbot and take the risk of getting lost (on highways, in thought) in order to find one’s way to someplace new.
Am I always willing to do this? Hell no.
Do I think it’s worthwhile, at least sometimes? Hell yes.
Come with me to Tuscany this spring!
Step off the beaten path of your routine life and join me for a fabulous Il Chiostro writing workshop May 25 - June 1, 2024 at the luxurious Borgo San Fedele, a meticulously restored monastery set in exquisite gardens amid a classic Tuscan landscape of olive groves and vineyards.
Our days will unfold in a perfect balance of guided writing and productive sharing; excursions guided by our Il Chiostro hosts to nearby picturesque medieval towns; coming home to San Fedele to relax by the pools and gardens, eat delicious meals and visit with new friends; and taking time for your own contemplative writing and thinking.
You’ll come away from this magical sojourn simultaneously enlivened and relaxed, with a deeper understanding of your purpose in writing memoir, along with many pages of new writing providing a plethora of potential doorways into the story of your life.
More information (and beautiful photos) here.
Ready to book? Click here.
Come Riding & Writing with me in Iceland this June!
I have not found a better creative tonic than RIDING and WRITING in the spectacular Icelandic countryside. Join me in the height of the bright summer season, June 10 – 16, 2024.
Every day we’ll ride out on sturdy, sweet Icelandic horses through the expansive rolling vistas of western Iceland, led by our experienced guides from Hestaland. Once you’ve experienced the exhilaration of the fast, smooth tolt, a gait unique to Icelandic horses, you may not want to go back to the trot!
We’ll eat delicious meals together at the beautiful Hestaland Guesthouse and participate in thoughtful, open-hearted guided writing sessions.
There will also be plenty of time for sharing and discussing your writing projects and visiting the nearby hot spring spa at Krauma.
Learn more about costs and accommodations on the application form.
Whether you’ve been to Iceland many times, or this will be your first experience there, this trip is sure to be transformative!
More information (and beautiful photos) here. Email me with any questions!
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better….
My mom used to feel like the female voice in her GPS was scolding her when it (per her ears) said, “Recalculating…”
She switched to the guy’s voice because he is “less judgmental.” 🤣
I agree with you about less wandering - and think there’s a whole other bunch of essays to be written not just about learned helplessness but blind faith. I have met people mired in snow trying to get over a mountain pass in a sedan on an unplowed road because their “GPS told them to go that way” - a route that would have been very difficult in the summer with a 4WD vehicle and is impassable in the winter except on skis or sled. 🛷
I really hear you and agree with you on all of this, Jennifer. I've discovered so many things by accident, looking for other things. I think we miss that a lot in this new, pre-programed, currated, designed, planned out world. Ugh. How do we get it back?