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.
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….
I did the same thing in the library but in the various journals. I was looking for a particular article then strayed to a very early volume or to those around. I ran into some fascinating and wonderful stuff that I wouldn't have found otherwise. I've spoken with librarians about how to mimic that practice today in the world of online journals. They appreciated my question but they didn't have a good answer.
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. 🛷