What have you gotten lost in lately?

Friday I got a little lost in nature. I had a full day of ‘conferencing’ and three back-to-back presentations. I decided to give myself a much needed break and finish the day with a hike. To be fair – it started out as a run, but after finding that the steep hill I had run down ended in a dead end, meaning I had to immediately go up the same way I had just come down (which somehow I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for) I decided to turn the run into a leisurely walk instead ;) After ascending the hill, I found what I thought was a path through a densely wooded part of the national park. However, almost immediately, the path I had been walking on disappeared under my feet and I realized I was completely lost in the middle of the woods.

Those who know me, know that I am severely directionally challenged (like to the point where I got lost on the way to work last week). Modern technology and google maps have saved my ass more times than I care to admit, but it quickly dawned on me that this time they probably couldn’t rescue me. Getting a signal out there seemed unlikely, and even if I could, what would the GPS say “turn left at the next maple and hang a right at the mushroom in 500 ft.”

I thought for sure I would panic. The hours spent binge watching true crime shows have taught me that being stranded in the middle of nowhere never ends well. But then, somehow, I surprised myself. I didn’t panic; rather, I became super happy – like demented happy. I was absolutely certain that I’d find my way back…eventually…and so for once, I was able to totally relax into the moment and that was, quite simply, awesome!

The last few weeks have been this strange juxtaposition for me – moments of complete clarity of direction and focus mashing up against this getting lost – in nature, in work, in words, in creative endeavors. For once, for now, in this precise moment - I'm okay with the drifting - the dissonance.