The Soul's Cry for a Map
It might be time for a journey.
When we feel lost, confused, and out of sorts.
When we feel lost, confused, out of sorts, and don’t know exactly where we are, it can get really intense.
We typically walk around with this tension inside of us because, in our culture, it’s not really okay for us to be unsettled. Putting our insides on the outside, by speaking about it, is an act of vulnerability. It opens us up to scrutiny we’d rather avoid.
This is especially true if, from the outside, you look like you have it all.
Help isn't really that visible. Or accepted.
Even though, it seems like there might be resources “out there”, help isn’t exactly visible. There isn’t a store down the street called “The Mental Health” store. Or, “The Help Me Get Unstuck Store.” While such help is much less underground these days, you still have to go looking for it. How? Where? Who?
So, we say forget it, and roll up our sleeves and decide to figure it out ourselves. We JUST DO IT:
- When feeling lost, one strategy people use is to try to be grateful with what they have and simply grin and bear it and keep on keeping on.
- Another strategy is at the other end of the spectrum – we throw it all away and leap into the unknown, our net appearing before (we hope) we hit the ground.
- Or, we become a flurry of avoidance, keeping bizzy, bizzy, bizzy. We can’t sit still. We can’t stay home. We can’t be alone with our thoughts.
But, all the while, our souls are crying out for a map to guide us out of the fog.
I don’t know about you, but I have done some version of all of these, plus a few others. These aren’t wrong. But, they aren’t exactly right either.
Even though we’re trying to keep it quiet, our soul cries out for a map.
When you know where you are, you can decide where to go.
With a map, you can put in a pin and label it, “YOU ARE HERE”.
With that first pin in place, you can:
- scan
- peruse
- contemplate
You can get a lay of the land and get some ideas of where to go from here.
You can choose, let’s say, three possible destinations, and plot your course. Which is the easiest to get to? Which is the most interesting? Which one calls to your soul?
But, maybe it's not so bad to just be lost and confused.
Without a map, there is tremendous relief in putting it all off for another day.
It’s not so bad, we tell ourselves. It will all work itself out. I’m being too sensitive, too privileged, too unrealistic. What’s so bad about being comfortable and safe?
But then, you might find yourself:
- eating too much
- drinking too much
- working too much
- scrolling too much
- yelling too much
Then, you feel like you’ll fix this, without realizing they’re symptoms of the cry your soul made not so long ago.
Maybe it's not us. Maybe new times call for new maps.
What’s this process called? Being human at a time where we have the luxury of making choices for ourselves, but we’ve never been taught how to do it.
It’s new. Technology sped things up. Life sped up. We started living longer. Nothing is in place to help us negotiate all this. When there was no where to go, people started offering to help. Over time, they got better and better at helping.
Over time, some strategies and tools helped more and more people. Maps were created. People started to get where they wanted to go.
Yet, they’re still somewhat hidden. The time is coming for them to emerge into the mainstream.
Many maps out there.
The good news is that there are many maps out there, if you go looking.
I kind of got lost myself in 2021 and stepped back, unsure of my next step. I found solace in an old map of mine – astrology. I also discovered a new map – Human Design.
I have increasing clarity about who I am and what’s been getting in the way. My destinations are clearer too. As I set out (again) on my journey, I can’t help but hope you will do the same. Because staying comfortable and safe isn’t always comfortable and safe.
Plus, you’re meant for more. Your soul knows it. You know it. It’s time.
