Lost Is Space

The other day a friend of mine told me he felt lost. I had to stifle a loudish cheer. Really. Although I feel sad for the anguish that he's going through, hearing that he'd gotten to the "lost" point made my heart lurch in a good way. In a bring-on-the-G-force way.

Before you start thinking that the Bitchy Barb personality has won the day, please allow me to elucidate.

You're in a brand new city. You don't know the streets. You have a vague sense of direction, but the ol' internal compass seems to be spinning a bit wildly. Nothing looks familiar. So what do you do? Why, you lay down on the sidewalk and take up residence for the rest of your life, right?

Ahhhh... see? Although you might be frustrated, exhausted, hungry, and near tears of despair at the very idea of being lost, you keep going. You explore. You maybe stumble across some cool stuff on the way, or some cool people to help you with directions. Ultimately, you find your way.

Being lost is good because it forces action. Being lost is good because at some point we stop for a minute, we take a deep breath, we reassess, and then we move on.

Being lost is good because you discover new things about yourself and your surroundings. You find out what you're made of - strengths and weaknesses.

Being lost is good because it makes you resourceful. The commonplace things become new tools - baseball caps become colanders to collect berries in the woods, rocks become hammers, hands become tumblers to be filled with cool stream water.

Being lost makes you reach out. You see someone walking by, you ask for help. And unless that person is a total ass hat, they're happy to help.

It's useless trying to berate yourself for getting lost in the first place. That was then. The good news is that being lost means that there is a way out.

So, while I hurt for my friend, I'm also nodding in a very affirmative Yeah! sort of way. I know he's not the kind of person to just give up. I know he will find his way to a better place.

By the way, I'm not saying that feeling lost doesn't suck. It does.

But, lost isn't a destination.