I’ve been thinking about what it means to find your way when there are no maps, no compasses, not even a trail.
And not thinking about it in some abstract, philosophical sense. I’m moreso thinking about it in the very literal sense of: the world is changing so fast that the old ways of navigating aren’t working reliably anymore. The standard maps suddenly seem wrong, upside down even. The trails that exist are way over-used. People have even re-routed trails or created roadblocks for their own benefit. For instance: watching several thousand people being laid off from a company who claims to be making record profits. Systems so complicated and/or expensive to navigate that you give up (and it’s designed that way). A tax code that is thousands of pages long. Benefits you paid into your whole working life and now there’s chatter of that system going bankrupt? You get the idea.
It feels like in the U.S. of A our government is imploding. Politics are deeply divisive. The standard “college, career, marriage, kids, 2nd career, retirement with a pension” path has essentially been wiped off the map. The social contracts we thought we understood feel like gibberish now. We cannot rely on our institutions to help us decide ethically, morally, socially, societally, things humans have relied on for hundreds of years..
And a lot of people are freaking out. Which I totally understand.
But here’s what I’ve noticed: some people aren’t freaking out. Or they are, but there’s something else happening too. Something underneath the fear: a kind of awakening.
And the group of people I notice having this awakening are people who are creating/have created their own way. They start their own business and/or have several ways of making money. They grow their own food, know what to do with basic ingredients, and compost with gusto (or maybe that’s just me?). It’s the people doubling down on art, writing, and making music. It’s knowing your neighbors and caring about them. And it’s living for the NOW, not for some later date deemed acceptable when you have enough money and have worked a proper amount of time. We seem to navigate our own boat, choose our own path, read something different in the stars. Those of us who think of ourselves as wayfinders focus on the bigger picture of what we’re meant to do in the world: figure it out for ourselves and then help others do that, too.
The good news is that we have everything we need inside us. Let me explain how…
What Is a Wayfinder?
A Wayfinder, as Wade Davis, author of The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World is defined as: “individuals or cultures that produce valuable worldviews and environmental knowledge crucial for navigating earthly existence.”
The term wayfinder originally was a label describing Polynesian oceanic navigators. But Davis groups many such ancient people under the label “wayfinder” because they navigated by reading currents, winds, stars, flora and fauna, and sea life. Looking at these abilities with our dulled, modern senses, they seem magical in thinking and action.
But here’s the thing: those abilities weren’t magic. They were just deeply, incredibly human. Humans who deeply practiced the art and science of NOTICING.
Here’s what I know for sure: one of the biggest practices I teach my clients is NOTICING. In fact, one of my core questions is, “What are you noticing?” Because we only ever have RIGHT NOW. Recently I was watching the last episode of the final season of Poldark (I do love me a good period drama!) where Demelza and Ross were saying goodbye. They hold each other and say, “And the past is gone. Tomorrow doesn’t exist. All that matters is now. And we.”
When the systems are failing or simply cannot keep up the rate of change in technology, or the environment, or within people themselves, when the path isn’t clear anymore, we can become our own wayfinders. We can create our own maps. And how do we do that? We quit listening to what we’ve been taught is proper and acceptable by our families, communities, religious, and educational institutions. Instead, we rely on our own inner wisdom.
Now is the time for you to discover and build your inner wisdom. To discover and practice trusting yourself. And you do this by tapping into your own inner navigation system.
Wayfinding – The Art of Building Inner Trust
There have been Wayfinders since the beginning of humanity. And while these people might not have been “literal” navigators (like my dad was in the Navy), these ancient wayfinders acted in service of their families, tribes, communities, and nature in the same way my dad acted in service to his crew and mission.
The world is changing and fast. Structures that seemed permanent are dissolving. Ecosystems are collapsing. Social norms are shifting so fast we can barely keep up.
For a lot of people, this brings anxiety and confusion. Or apathy, hopelessness, and despair.
But for Wayfinders? This time is an INVITATION.
Because when our modern systems begin to fail or outright collapse, something inside us wakes up.
We start remembering things long buried inside ourselves.
As my mentor Martha Beck writes, “Wayfinding doesn’t deny that the ship is pitching in high waves. Instead, it teaches us how to find our true bearings within the storm.”
I am certainly not pretending everything’s fine. What I am doing is learning to navigate when nothing’s fine by trusting MYSELF (and building community, because no wayfinder goes it alone).
I’m not a Wayfinder because I’m immune to fear, but because—as Beck says—”we can sense a deeper current running beneath the chaos, a wisdom that never stops flowing and can keep us safe.”
I’ve felt that current. On a 16-day trip through Grand Canyon. On the French Broad River, where my husband and I rafted 140 miles over 16 days. When I lead trips for women (the wildHER river trips) (Main Salmon and the Rogue). Even (especially) when I work with clients in the forest when everything’s quiet. There, I can feel the stillness. And in the stillness, everything is moving, growing, changing. My inner wisdom is alive there if I’m willing to step into the current of energy.
That current is real. And you can learn to read it.
Inner Connection, Inner Wisdom, Inner Compass
I was recently guiding a private forest therapy walk for a long-time client. What looks like wandering and talking is actually a deep practice of quieting our minds, asking deeper questions, and tuning into our inner voices.
Towards the end of our time in the woods together, I invited my client to sit for 20 minutes next to a being (a tree, plant, rock, etc.). In this practice of “sit spot” there is no doing, only sitting and noticing what is happening in this moment. As we settle into our sitting, we might notice the wind, our breath, a feeling in our body, a bird flying by, an emotion might bubble up. The longer we sit, the more we notice. Sometimes we feel a deep connection to something in nature, or even something larger than ourselves.
And often, we figure out the answer to a problem we are having. Not always, but I’ve seen it happen enough to know it’s a reliable outcome of the practice.
My client came over to where I was sitting after our individual sit spot experiences. She said, “I didn’t even get a chance to tell you about this problem, but while I was sitting the answer came to me. I know exactly what to do.”
That is the art of tuning into your inner wisdom. To identifying where your inner compasses are leading you. And the first step is always connection: with yourself and (hopefully) with Nature.
Your Inner Compasses
I want to share the concept of the “Four Inner Compasses” because they map almost perfectly onto what I’ve discovered learning and leading on rivers and working in and with nature.
The Four Inner Compasses
#1: The Body Compass is where you identify those subtle (or not so subtle!) physical sensations. Clenching, softening, flowing, drooping. Your nervous system knows what’s true way before your mind does.
I learned this the hard way. My body was always communicating with me but I couldn’t understand until I developed an autoimmune disease and could barely get out of bed. Monthly migraines came weekly. My body stayed TENSE and TIGHT. I was exhausted. And I ignored it because I just didn’t know how to be with my body…or learn with and from it. Spending time in nature, immersed for days or weeks, is what opened up my senses and helped me trust and honor my body.
#2: The Emotional Compass helps you navigate every decision. Unfamiliar with naming emotions? Start here: mad, sad, scared, glad.
Want a deep, deep dive? Try Brene Brown’s book The Atlas of the Heart. It’s a textbook stuffed with the nuances of every emotion imaginable. There are no bad emotions and learning to identify them and receive their messages keeps you in integrity rather than duplicity (also known as abandoning yourself). No judgment, just awareness. And courage to say what is so.
Walking barefoot in the forest taught me SUBTLETY. My husband hugging me helped me identify LOVE. Kayaking on my favorite river in the world helped me identify PEACE. My cat purring and making biscuits on my chest taught me JOY (and maybe pain…those claws can be sharp!). Discovering ANGER showed me where I was over-giving. It also taught me to recognize the first signs of RESENTMENT. Paying attention to the emotional compass simply means being aware of the present moment. No judgement, just awareness. With clarity to name your emotion, no matter what it is.
#3: The Spiritual Compass connects you to the vast awareness that contains everything. It teaches you that you’re part of something bigger, something loving, and something powerfully benevolent.
I’ve suffered from religious trauma and talking about “God” or “Jesus” sometimes makes me feel squirrely. But no matter what I call it, I know it when I feel it: a huge energy under me, around me, above me. It surrounds me and holds me. I become filled with awe, wonder, and the deepest sweetest love. And the thing I love most: feeling so, so small. This connection to all that is and ever was and ever will be helps me put things in perspective. And not labeling “it” works for me.
Where do I feel this divine energy that flows through everything, including through me? On a quiet morning floating a river in a raft or in my kayak. Laying in the desert sand at night watching shooting stars and seeing the Milky Way as we move underneath the heavens. Realizing how VAST our Universe is, how many other Universes there could be, and how very, very small I am. These are comforting thoughts that bring me deep peace – and make life’s problems feel a whole lot smaller in comparison! And truly, I am small and puny, but part of this vast and beautiful world. Who created it? Why? That’s the mystery that surrounds me, brings me joy, and opens me to the magic and miracles of life.
And finally…
#4: The Mental Compass helps you discern clear thought from fearful noise. Your mental compass, if used well, moves you toward curiosity, invitation, and creativity and away from fear, lack, and worry.
The mental compass is always engaged last because it requires deep knowing and practice with your body compass, exquisite attention on your emotional compass, and a trust of and connection to your spiritual compass. Only then do you allow the mental compass to act. And act you will, taking the next action that is pulling you towards what’s right for you.
You were born with these compasses. They work. And now my invitation to you is to practice noticing them and working with them and following where they are leading you.
Finding Your Way
Before you can use a compass, it’s very helpful to know where you are, and to have a sense of where you’re going.
HERE: Your “you are here” point is simple: it’s this moment. Right now. Exactly where you are.
Not where you wish you were. Not where you “should” be. Where you actually are.
THERE: And your destination? Only you know. And YOU KNOW, even if you’re scared to say it.
I can’t tell you what yours is. Neither can anyone else.
But you know…and your Inner Compasses can get you there.
When you learn to read them, they’ll point you in the direction of your next right step. And your next. And your next. Until you wake up one day living the life you dreamed and thinking, “How fortunate am I?”
How to Start Right Now
Starting to work with your own inner compass is simple:
Step One: Look around. Simply notice what’s happening around you.
Step Two: Breathe deeply. Accept the here and now. No forcing, pushing, changing.
Step Three: Check in with your body. Are you feeling at ease? If not, can you locate your source of tension? Can you just sit with it and let it be present?
Step Four: Release. Once you can “be with” whatever is happening in this moment and relax all your compasses (a release, if you will), can you begin to notice where you might go if there was no pressure or resistance in your body? It might feel like leaning towards something. Or feeling a curiosity might bubble up. There might be a subtle yearning for something. Whatever happens, notice it. Honor it.
Beck writes: “This simple act of release and re-focusing will begin pulling you toward your purpose like a powerful magnet.”
This one practice, repeated over and over, engages your inner compass. It will pull you towards the direction that is right for you.
You Were Built for This
You too can be a Wayfinder. Consider this your invitation.
The old systems are dissolving because they need to. They aren’t serving the WHOLE of life.
And Wayfinders are the people who can navigate this new world using the ancient technology of inner wayfinding. They can find the current beneath the chaos. And they will help others do the same.
Hey, Wayfinder! You have everything you need inside you already. Your compasses are built in because you were born with them.
Let me help you learn to read them.
Here’s What I Know
You might think you know how to use each one of these compasses, but over and over I’ve watched people confuse their emotions for their body sensations, or share a thought, thinking they are describing an emotion. Other times they aren’t even realizing what connects them deeply and easily to their spiritual compass. And most people just lead with their mental compass and call it done. NOPE!
Because I know there’s so much wisdom available to you right now and it’s located in these inner compasses!
Start where you are. Notice and accept what’s happening right now. Feel for curiosity, yearning, or even a subtle invitation of “this!” vs. “not that!”
And know that you were built for this journey because you were born to have tough feet and a tender Soul.
Whatever’s happening is real. But so are the internal compasses that will carry you through.
Warmly,
Angie
Angie’s Note:
This piece is inspired by Martha Beck’s essay “Desperate Times Call for Wayfinders”. The concept of the Four Inner Compasses, the characteristics of Wayfinders, and the core navigation practice all come from Martha’s teaching.
And if you’d like help with your inner compasses, I’ve created a 4-part program called “Trust the Current” to help you .