Growing up, I’ve had opportunity to try many (I mean MANY) activities, and thus have a wide assortment of skills– from sword fencing and ice skating to poetry and music. While I never truly pursued most of them to become an expert, I became a sort of jack-of all trades. I became this child who was somewhat good at everything, while never really directing herself to pursue any one thing.

I continued to be this way. On my college applications, I hoped that this aspect of myself came off as “well-rounded” rather than as someone who didn’t have any direction. It bothered me somewhat, but I also enjoyed being able to apply myself in diverse settings. It gave me a unique perspective that I felt most others my age didn’t have.

By the end of high school, I was chosen to speak at my class’ graduation ceremony. My speech was called “Facing the Unknown”. I spoke of how there is no such thing as a “correct path” or “direction” in life.

“How do we know that our maps aren’t upside down?” I had asked the audience. The concept of direction was solely made by us, humans, with respect to ourselves too. Direction is not a universal truth.

I also spoke about reaching true happiness in our lives. “Happiness” is different for ourselves at different points in our lives. It is obviously different from person to person too. Without the clear cut destination of where to find happiness, there’s no clear direction towards it either.

Looking back, I feel I was very wise for my age (or perhaps I just think too much). I honestly don’t know how an average 18 year old thinks of such a concept for a graduation speech. I still feel the speech pertains to myself and many of my peers to this day.

So, if there’s no real direction, why do we need it? And for those who say they have direction… what is it towards exactly? When I think of things that give me a sense of direction, personally, there’s so many things:

1. My religion and spirituality directs me to constantly stay curious about the world and grow from what I learn. My love for writing and journaling is a direct result from this
2. My love for performing directed me towards dance, which helps me learn how to communicate and express myself entirely to an audience
3. My family directs me to try and learn more about myself and my Indian heritage. I love doing mehendi on my peers in college and share my Indian food with friends as an attempt to share my culture
4. My love for healing and growth in myself extends to others as well, which directs me towards medicine as a career

I guess having direction in life doesn’t necessarily have to be 2-dimensional; it doesn’t have to be point A to point Z. Having direction can also be as complex as we are!

What dimensions of direction do you have? What gives you these senses of direction?

That’s it for today’s post!

Moesha ❤