Lost and Found

Getting Lost

“However you choose to do it, the practice of getting lost is both valuable and undervalued, at least by the North American culture most of us know best. In this culture, the point is to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, even if it means that you miss most of the territory, including the packed dirt under your feet.”

                Barbara Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World)

I dreamed I was lost in West Virginia last night. I kept talking to people, turning the map this way and that, and no one, including me, could read it. Finally, I said, 'I'm just going to get on the road heading south and see where it takes me.' That's a little slice of reality if I've ever seen one.

These days, what with satellites and all manner of global tracking devices, it's hard to get lost. I'm still one of those weirdos who likes to look at paper maps, atlases, and decide routes based on them. Besides, getting lost is sometimes a good thing—you have to be conscious of where you are and what the road signs say. You even have to pay attention to the sun and the time of day. Getting lost forces you to be conscious.

Are you a creature of habit? Do you take the same route to work every day, like a robot, programmed to 'go .4 miles and turn left on Dunwoody Drive.' Can't you just hear that annoying mechanical voice talking in your head? 'Turn left now, turn left now...recalculating...' I know those things are good to have, but I still want to smack her. A few weeks ago, when I was driving in Chattanooga, Madam Robo, as I call her, had me make a complete circle on interstate highways and end up exactly where I was to begin with. I smacked her off. I prefer to get lost of my own volition.

My photographer friend, Leslie, has been traveling the back roads to snap pictures of Americana. I'm going to make a quilt of her photos. If she didn't get lost she would miss so much that's worth seeing. Southern Americana is undeniably the funkiest. I'll bet there are some good shots to be had in West Virginia.

Truth be told, all of us programmed North Americans, who think we know exactly where we're headed, are just as lost as those folks in my West Virginia dream. Who knows where we're going or what's around the next bend? Tell you what—just get on the road south and see where it takes you.

                                       In the spirit,

                                      Jane