QUAIL MUTTERINGS #87.  Finding Our True North (June 2024)

         Who am I? Who are you? And who are we? What do we really know? Not much, I’m afraid. We’re so influenced by all the “noise” around us that we have to tune out some of it just to survive. And especially in order to find our own true north. However, it’s certainly easier said than done.

            We each have a vision about what our own true north might or should be and perhaps some of us have no idea and may be trying to find it. But, it’s not a stagnant thing—sometimes it can be a slippery slope, sometimes an expanding vista. In other words, I don’t think it’s set in stone. For much of my life, I seem to have laid some wide parameters here and there, but have mostly stumbled into the various paths my life has followed. And for that, I feel extremely grateful.

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           Being raised in an unconventional family might have allowed me to be more open to non-conformist ideas. I followed my heart in pursuit of a degree in dance despite being pressured to proceed into the math and science realm. Teaching creative movement in an alternative, back-to-the-land, family-oriented environment opened me up to the possibility of being a mother myself.

            The general direction of my true north has remained steadfast in the way it’s rooted me to a rural, natural lifestyle. In fact, it’s so much a part of me that I’ve had recurring nightmares in which I have chosen something else, and I wake abruptly in a panic and a deep remorse stays with me for some time. Even though I only dreamed it.

            How many of us remain on good terms with absolutely every single person we’ve ever met? If we’re being totally honest here, then none of us have. It’s probably not possible, considering misunderstandings, foul moods, peer pressure… But I’m afraid that most of our separations have roots far deeper. These are the issues where we have choices in the way we handle them, lest we fall into a group mentality in lieu of acting within our own unique true north.

            What goes up must come down. I’ve looked at life from both sides now. The law of opposites can both attract and repel. Yin and yang. Mostly we get caught up in one side or the other and shut out any conflicting information. We humans tend to act like herd animals and snuggle deeper and deeper into our own tribe’s slogans. So much so that we can spout off without truly understanding what we are saying. It’s natural to want to belong to something bigger than just ourselves. This might actually be an instinct for self-preservation. Also, it’s much easier to not have to think through every single facet of life. But this way of living could lead to our collective demise, because sometimes instinct can lead to extinction.

            Consider the frog placed into room-temperature water and slowly, but surely, getting cooked to death in boiling water. This can occur so gradually that it doesn’t recognize what’s happening. I think we’re a lot like that when it comes to our desire for a sense of belonging. We end up putting on blinders and ear plugs in order to steer clear of that other side. Unfortunately, this has seemed to envelop us as individuals as well as our society and the whole world at large.

            The ‘group think” problem has taken over. Everybody thinks the same so nobody thinks at all. But sometimes you just have to stand there and figure out what’s really going on. As the summer solstice draws near perhaps this would be a good opportunity to do so. What better time than the longest day of the year, which gives us ample time to do some serious soul searching while we contemplate our own true north? That’s my plan, anyway—maybe I’ll just stand there and try to figure out what’s really going on.

 

Chi Varnado has published six books including fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. They are available on www.amazon.com. Her collection of essays, Quail Mutterings, can be found on www.chivarnado.com or www.dancecentrepresents.com.