When I was young I enjoyed looking at maps as we traveled. I liked connecting the road we were on to where we were on a map. Looking ahead for the next crossroad or landmark and seeing how long it took to get there. Plus it gave me something to do on long car rides with my annoying little sisters (kidding).

Back in the day… when I first learned to drive, there was no GPS help available. I had to write down or print out instructions and glance at them as I drove to an unfamiliar place. I tried to memorize as much as possible before I left. Trying to find your place in the list of roads & turns mid-drive was never easy. But I feel like all of this gave me an awareness of how places are connected and a sense of direction.

I was recently traveling to a friend’s house, but I had never been there before. I plugged in my phone and put her address in the map program I use. I briefly looked at the map before I left and kinda had a sense of where I was going. But that sense was lost once I turned onto the first of many side roads. I also have to point out I couldn’t really see the map on my radio screen without my reading glasses, which I can’t use while driving. So I all I could do was just drive until the phone gave me the next turn instructions.

This made me think about how my life has changed. I used to have an idea of the direction I was heading. I had a sense of where I was and where I was going. There were roadblocks and detours here and there, but overall it made sense. Now I feel like I am living with GPS-like instructions being randomly shouted at me — “get a scan, take this medication, get lab work completed, okay now another scan” but I have no sense of where I am. I just follow the directions but I have no idea where they are leading me, or where the end of the trip will be.

I’m not usually this insightful. I don’t often make these random connections but this one has stuck with me for the last few days so I thought I’d write it down