"Dead reckoning" - When all the stars have gone dark

A word on "dead reckoning"

The are a lot of different ways to find your path. I think most of us are sent on our way with something akin to a Mapquest printout for our lives.  (That's right asshole, Mapquest. Like before GPS. Don't pretend you never did it) It looks something like this:

STARTING LOCATION
Your mom's boob

1. You have been born. For the next 16 years, stay in school, don't do drugs, clean your room. Everyone is special and everyone gets a trophy.

2. You have arrived at 16. For the next 2 years, disobey your parents, be an all-knowing little shit.

3. You have arrived at graduation (high school). For the next 4 years, go to college for godsake because it is the most important thing in the world.

4. You have arrived at graduation (college). For the next 40 years, land your dream job and use it to pay off your student loans,  because you can do anything you want as long as you work hard enough. Marry somebody and spawn some kids.

5. You have arrived at retirement. For the next 20 years, hold hands with your loving spouse and rock on rocking chairs while your fat, happy grandchildren frolic around you.

YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION!
Emotional fulfillment.

Something like that. At some point, I think most of us look at that list of landmarks and directions and think, "I've got it all figured out." Some people never lose sight of that next step. No missed turns, no detours, no bumps in the road. Not even a question of,  "Wait a minute, is this where I actually want to be going?" And good for them. You get ANOTHER fucking trophy. So shiny and special, just like you.

My journey is not dedicated to those people.

What do you do when your navigation is interrupted? You missed a turn, you lost sight of your landmarks, and your precious map flew right out the window. There is another type of navigation that can always be used as backup. Planes do it when their position is unknown. Animals use it to migrate thousands of miles. Ancient seafarers used it when they were swallowed up by a storm and all the stars went dark.

It's called dead reckoning.

Navigation by pure logic. You know where you were. You feel the wind in your face. You know how hard you're pushing to get through it. It can be a primal, fuck-everything-else way to get through it, or it can be cold, clean and logical. Either way, it will get you through it.

My journey is for those of us who know where we were, but something happened. We pulled the e-brake and reevaluated that course we were on. Maybe we had been following a path we never chose. Maybe we were led astray. We all have it in us, in a deep ancestral part of our being, to take a deep breath, to look at the path behind us, and then look ahead with renewed certainty, not of our destination, but of our next step.

If you find yourself at that point. Take that breath. Look back, but only once. Feel the wind in your face. Wherever you destination is, your path is ahead of you.

I'm out there too. I'm thinking of you.