Getting Lost

Last night, on my way to a ballet class in the city, I got lost. Yep, lost in the very capital city that I have lived only forty-five minutes away from for my entire life.

You see I got off the train, all deer in the headlights, as you do when you get off a city loop train you have been sitting on for a while and I took the first escalator up toward the sky. Which funnily enough turned out to be the wrong one and I ended up coming out somewhere unexpected.  Instead of turning back the way I came (and this is peak hour too mind you) I just kept on walking.

I found myself lost in a labyrinth of multi-level shopping center come underground city train station, standing rather inconveniently, like a salmon trying to swim upstream, against a sea of people who all knew exactly where they were going and it was the opposite direction to me! I even had a near death, tourist-y experience when I tried to cross a little pedestrian crossing and was nearly hit by a bicycle!

I didn’t get out Google maps, I just kept on walking, hoping that I could find my way somehow in the right direction. And you know what? Eventually I did. I even had time to get my dinner (because eating a fish wrap and hot chips before putting on a pretty leotard is always a good idea).

I think even though I have always lived in the suburbs, I am a country girl at heart. Whilst the novelty of the rush and busy of our cosmopolitan city is nice sometimes, give me fresh air, open spaces and blue skies any-day.

It was just a little thing, I was only lost for a minute, and the feeling was more slightly nervous thrill than fear. I am telling this story because really, it just kind of reminded me of my life. One minute I was following this life path on which I thought I knew the destination and then all of a sudden I was lost. Sometimes it seems like everyone else knows where they are going, but my Google maps is offline and there I am, the salmon standing amongst the sea of people all going in the opposite direction. I guess it means you just do the same thing I did last night; follow the direction that feels right. Keep on walking, follow your instincts and suddenly things look familiar and you know how to get where you want to go.