Words of Wisdom?
There are times when we can hear thoughts that are real gems. We just know that those words emanate from a wellspring of deep wisdom, and the thoughts behind the words were founded on principled observation, experience, contemplation and conclusion.
I love to sit quietly sometimes and contemplate the fissiparity of the human experience. One school of thought attributed to the "frog" says, "what is a joke to you is death to me!" Another, attributed to the "donkey," says, "This world is not level."
These two sayings are particularly apt as I compare and contrast the existence of a well-oriented and navigationally savvy person, with that of someone like me, who just cannot get their coordinates right.
What thoughts do the following quotations evoke in you?
Oliver Wendell Holmes: "A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimension."
I agree. We must endeavor to learn at least one new thing every day!
Anthony Bourdain: "Travel is not always pretty. It is not always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts; it even breaks your heart. But it's ok. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."
That's really heavy, and, mostly true. I'm just thinking of those individuals with developmental topographical disorientation (DTD), who are never able to take any memory of where they've been with them, because they're not able to store these memories in their brains!
Freya Stark: "To waken quite alone in a strange town is [one of] the most pleasant sensations in the world."
On behalf of all the directionally challenged people, who get lost in their own hometown, I flat out reject that assertion, and affirm that, for us, the truth lies in the opposite direction!
So it does take all kinds to make a world! Not everyone is gung ho about sailing off without a compass. In fact, some of us are definitely not enthusiastic about sailing off at all, even with a compass!
However, don't ever mistake our reluctance for temerity. Some of us are the bravest of souls. I'll explain that at another time. Also, do not mistake our tendency to get lost for a lack of intelligence. Directionally challenged individuals, of necessity, must be some of the smartest beings alive!
If you are directionally challenged, know for a fact, that you are not to blame for the fact that you turn right when the directions clearly said, "Turn left," or you view what others describe as "down," as "up!"
Just know that you're different. You view things differently. Your thought processes work differently. Let's do all we can to make the rest of the world understand what we experience on a daily basis.
Share your thoughts and suggestions, and also, try to get a copy of my book, Center brained: Why you can't tell left from right, east from west or north from south. It's available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, walmart.com, among other platforms. It is largely about how I have fared as a directionally challenged person, because I know myself best. But it is also about the scores of persons whose experiences have informed me, challenged me, and encouraged me. It explains the concept of directional challenge or confusion, which has several other terms of reference.
My aim is to remove the shame from directional challenge, and to achieve acknowledgement and acceptance for the directionally challenged, all over the world. Please join me in this effort!
Hope you will.
E.P.G.
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