Getting lost in something bigger..

Getting lost in something bigger, is something that I really love exploring. This is true in general and also in my work and creative practice.

Whether getting lost physically as you navigate a journey to somewhere new, starting a new project as a beginner or in less obvious ways that have you simply wonder, wander, and rest in the awe and mystery of experience - there are lots of ways to go beyond what we think we already know. So I wonder, when was the last time you got lost? I wonder what your experience was? What did you notice? How did it change you?

I was reflecting on this as I returned from my recent holiday to Cornwall. We have aspects of our lives that get busy or need to be done and whilst you may not feel “busy” in the sense of the word that is so often used - we are fully occupied with routines and responsibilities that are part of life from tending to our homes and gardens, taking care of family and undertaking whatever work it is that we put our energy into.

Going away for a week, pressing pause on the “usual” and giving ourselves the freedom to roam is a wonderful luxury however simple and local that might be. I definitely appreciate the time away and the sense of space and expansion that it leaves within me. Finding new places that had not been visited before, returning to favourite spots and taking it in anew, noticing what has changed and allowing it to reveal more about itself.

My husband and I do have a little game we like to play whether at home or away, a kind of getting lost game I guess. We spot a turning that looks like it leads to nowhere, with no signs we recognise and just go and investigate. We have had some interesting finds in the middle of nowhere and had to reverse our way out! Mostly we find hidden surprises that we would never have seen had we not got curious, the hidden valley, the diverse hedgerow with more species than you can count etc, the side of a canal with no way out but in! (or reversing!)

When we open ourselves up to getting lost, it brings that sense of the bigger space. Not just physically in terms of the place we occupy, but something deeper. That sense that there is always something more, a gentle way of wondering about the unknown, and what is beyond what we think we know. Of course we don’t need to go away for a week to access this sense of freedom and expansion. And this is the insight I am often left with when I return home, and an intention to create more opportunities for this in the everyday.

As an artist I am pretty good at getting lost for seemingly no good reason at all except to “just see”. Whether that is within a painting, outside collecting and gathering inspiration or simply sitting in reflection in the landscape. I realise I love getting lost. I love that lostness creates a portal for us to feel new feelings, explore unseen territory both inside and outside and bring something fresh and new into the everyday.

In my work facilitating space for others, I have also come to see the value of enabling the individual or group to get lost, to hang out in the unknown, and for me to get lost with them. There is something potent about allowing ourselves to just trust in something bigger, to get out of our own way and enable insight and new thoughts to arise and guide the way, which they always do. When we intentionally invite the energy beyond what is already created to make itself visible, we know something magical is possible. We know that solutions and ideas and creativity will bubble up, seemingly from nowhere.

When a client or fellow artist says they feel lost, it is usually with some judgemental thinking, that somehow it is wrong to feel this way. They describe not knowing what to do next as uncomfortable, because they think they should know, they think there is this time pressure to get stuff done, so they can get to the next lot of stuff. Lets be honest we all get caught in this from time to time. However, what I hear, is that they are ripe for something new to arise, for transformation to take place, and I trust that their natural wellbeing and creative capacity is at work, and has it all in hand. All it leaves me to do is to illuminate this so that they can release the judgemental thinking and allow themselves to just be lost…….and enjoy the exploration.

I firmly believe that if we made more space and time for people to get properly lost, in organisations, in society and in life in general, we would predispose ourselves to more creative freedom, resolve seemingly impossible tasks more easily and find solutions to some of our current challenges more readily with less effort. This in turn would generate more trust, faith and hope, all hallmarks of a positive force for good. A kind of slowing down that in reality has the positive by-product of being more efficient. Magic!

The other thing I have noticed when I come home from being away, (or lost generally) is that I not only have a new appreciation for my home and surroundings but I notice it with fresh eyes, things I have taken for granted or things I have been holding on to which can now be released. The flowers that have bloomed while I am away and the weeds that have arrived too! I always return with a sense of having grown, expanded and having experienced something greater, that is tantalisingly closer than it was before I left.

There are of course many ways to do this in the everyday, it doesn’t need a holiday to achieve this (although they are of course wonderful things!). That piece of music you haven’t heard before that transports you somewhere new or brings rhythm to your hips. The new flavour of something that feels fresh and nourishing on your palette. The moment you sit on the back step with your cup of tea in the silence of dawn or twilight. (Twilight - my all time favourite place to get lost in something bigger - do try it if you haven’t before - it is magical and mysterious in all the best ways)

It looks to me like getting lost, whether consciously or unconsciously, expands our peripheral vision, brings a richness to the moment and somehow enables us to experience life beyond the boundaries and habitual thinking that we have unwittingly created in our day to day.

As both an artist and a facilitator it makes sense to me that I allow this exploration to be a fundamental and fertile part of my practice. I think this is true of simply being human. To have getting lost as an intentional part of the experience of life and creating. The more we embrace and enjoy the benefits of getting lost, of losing our-selves, the more we feel connected to the bigger nature of who we really are.

So if you were to get lost this week, to create opportunities to go where you have not been before - to experience more surprises and fresh ideas, how might that be?