If You Have a Compass, Smash It

I was called upon to substitute teach at my old school, in my old room, for an old friend. She is easily the best teacher at Mac High, and her instructions to me included this plea: "My seniors have a little over two months left. During the lesson today, could you please teach them the meaning of life?" 

Well...no pressure. Funny how things work out, but just yesterday I ran across a poem that I thought would be a great discussion point with senior kids about to graduate. I printed it off for the kids, then read it to them in class today. The classes greeted it with mixed reactions. The first class was fairly subdued; the second class more gregarious; the last class...meh, whatever. 

While I think the words in the poem are absolutely worthwhile for an embarking senior (and truly for anyone with a critical ear at any point in life), what I've learned is that it's tough to step in as a near-stranger and try to impart some kind of life wisdom to kids. It has to come from someone familiar, someone they see on a daily basis. So while today's lesson wasn't completely lost, it wasn't completely received either. Too bad. 

In this picture, I tried to capture some of the kids, after a morning walk, writing and drawing their reactions to the poem. Here it is, and you can decide if it has merit for any of us (the poet used Rebecca Solnit's 2005 book, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, as inspiration.

Excerpts from A Field Guide to Getting Lost
by Jose A. Alcantara


If you have a compass, smash it.
Nothing can point you to true anything, let alone true north.
Besides - and never forget this - you are trying to get lost.
You may be gone for a long time
so be sure not to pack food or water.
It is only the hungry who feed, only the thirsty who are quenched.


Before you leave, be sure to write a note
telling everyone exactly where you will not be.
The last thing you need is someone coming to your rescue.


Now, find the best map possible
and tear it up. You will be traveling on a scale
that no one has ever drawn. 


Do not leave a string of crumbs behind you.
This would only attract predators.
On second thought, go ahead.


Write postcards telling everyone of you adventures.
Be sure to lie, like a fox leaving false tracks.
Someday they will thank you.


You will not know when you have arrived.
But if you think you have, you haven't.
If you think you haven't, you probably have.


If you come to a fork in the road
stab yourself in the foot with it. You will
reach your destination much faster if you are limping.


Better yet, use it to pluck out your eyes.
There are many signposts along the way.
Maybe now you will learn to see.