The Power of Wayfinding
The Modern World
The modern world can be overwhelming.
Change is rapid and frequent. Task lists and distractions are endless, and time often feels scarce. Advances in technology have increased our global connectivity and access to information. And they have also increased the number and complexity of decisions we have to make each day…as leaders and as humans.
As technology shapes what our personal and professional lives look like, powerful social and economic forces like capitalism, rationalism and hyper-individualism shape how we react.
They pressure us to stay busy, be productive, and achieve more. We work long hours, yet never feel like we are done. When we can’t get through our task lists, we feel like we’ve failed in some way.
When we try to “improve” ourselves, but our attempts at optimization are short-lived, we feel even more frustrated. Then we reach for temporary distractions to feel better which feel good in the short term, yet reinforce this cycle long term.
Even if you are self aware and skilled, it’s easy to get caught up in this storm and to feel overwhelmed, lonely, and exhausted.
Too many of us are coping our way through life – rest and play deficient, emotionally reactive, spiritually malnourished, hustling in silos for our worth, trying to keep all the balls in the air as our bodies cry out for nourishment.
And we are leading families, teams, and organizations in this state. This rarely leads to the cultures and results we crave and that our society needs to be more just, equitable and sustainable.
WHAT WE CAN’T DO IS JUST DO
In the words of author and activist, Audre Lorde:
“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”
In other words, we won’t get better at navigating the chaos of the modern world by joining it. We won’t create the world we aspire to by doing more of what’s not working.
- Acquiring more knowledge won’t make us wiser.
- Adding more mindfulness tasks to the “to do list” won’t reduce our deeper stress.
- Insisting on being “more flexible” won’t make us more agile in the face of large scale change.
- Constantly trying to fix ourselves won’t help us reconnect to nature, our bodies & our inner voices.
- Working longer hours at our computers won’t shift the culture of hyperproductivity and isolation.
- Cancelling those who don’t agree with us won’t create a more just and connected world.
- Distracting ourselves from the symptoms of the problem won’t help us cure its root cause.
If we want a different experience of life and different outcomes from our lives, then we can’t just do more stuff, and we can’t do the same stuff.
WAYFINDING: ANCIENT WISDOM FOR A MODERN WORLD
At one point, we lived in much closer connection with nature and each other. We observed, attuned and worked with our environment. This kept us agile and responsive in a world that we couldn’t always predict or understand.
Advances in technology have given us more control over certain aspects of our lives, and they have also left us with the illusion that we can control, understand and manipulate more of life than we can.
And this has diminished our ability to notice and respond to our personal rhythms and to the rhythms of the world. Ironically, this emergent responsiveness is what we most need as technology rapidly unfolds our world into versions of itself that we can’t yet imagine.
We don’t have to return to the past to draw its wisdom forward, but we do need to reconnect with practices like:
- Being present
- Working emergently
- Observing and inquiring
- Exploring and discernment
- Cultivating community
- Listening deeply to the ecosystem and beyond the senses
- Honoring our interdependencies & tapping into the wisdom of our lineage
- Seeing our bodies, hearts, minds, & intuition as sources of truth
These are practices that underpin how I coach, design, and live. They are neither new nor mine. They are present in many cultures and traditions. All sorts of people the world over – many of them indigenous – have powerfully modeled and stewarded them through the generations.
Given my background and experiences, I’ve been deeply influenced and inspired by how these practices come alive in the Polynesian tradition of “wayfinding.”
Wayfinding is a set of navigational practices that people use to sail from one place to another using only natural signs. t’s also a metaphor that offers insights into how we can sail responsively through modern day life.
Wayfinding is how Polynesia was settled (learn more here). Navigators found their way across 63 million square miles of ocean to island chains they had never been to before without modern maps or GPS.
They navigated rapidly changing conditions and unexpected storms, while living in close quarters with each other aboard open air canoes.
How did these Wayfinders do it?
They were astute observers of the natural world and of themselves. They honed their ability to read and respond to patterns in the wind, waves, and sky. They used their minds and also their bodies and instincts to sense where they were.
They adapted based on present realities while keeping their eye on the horizon. They worked emergently, pivoting their sails and their sail plan to reflect the daily realities of the ocean they were crossing. They crewed together and co-created the path to their destination with their ecosystem.
Because of their approach, they boldly, yet intentionally journeyed into the unknown. They were able to sense, discover, and sail their way to islands they had never seen. They were able to literally expand the dimensions of the known world for themselves and for others.
When the ancient Polynesian Wayfinders didn’t know what their future destination looked like, they stayed present and attuned to conditions. They noticed what was arriving to their canoe and responded, all while keeping their eye on the horizon.
They expected to tack with the wind and weather and trusted that by reading the sign and shifting their sails, islands would appear on the horizon. And they did.
WE NEED CULTURAL WAYFINDERS
We need leaders and individuals who recognize that the modern world is much like the open ocean and that we are much like these ancient navigators – sailing in unpredictable waters to islands we’ve never seen.
We need people who understand that we can’t just do as we’ve been doing. Instead we need to grow our capacity to relate to complexity and our skill in navigating it.
Wayfinding Wisdom exists to support these cultural wayfinders in reconnecting with ideas, inspiration, practices, and approaches that will do just that. We’re here to sail with you as you return to ancient wisdom and apply it in a modern world.
WE
WAYFIND
TOGETHER
In our time together, I help you:
- Observe what’s happening inside & around you – so that you know who you are and where you are and start to trust that no matter how lost you feel, you can always be located.
- Connect with your story & lineage – so that you can connect with your values, honor your responsibilities, take strength in where you come from and stand fully in the unique gifts you offer to the world.
- Operate at the intersection of multiple truths – so that you’re released from the constraints of binary thinking and invited into new possibilities.
- Discern the timbre of your truth from the phonetics of your fear – so that you can make decisions and take action that come from the clearest, most confident part of yourself.
- Use your body, emotions & intuition to make decisions (as well as your brain) – so that you can life more fully and lead more authentically and confidently.
- Experiment, explore, & adapt – so that you can strengthen your risk-taking muscles, learn (rather than fail) forward, and create possibilities for yourself and others that you couldn’t see at the outset of the journey.
NO GURUS, JUST FELLOW WAYFINDERS
Everything I invite in you is something that I’m exploring and refining in my own life.
I’m not a guru.
I’m not here to tell you how to do life. I can’t give you the answers to your questions or make the existential weight of life disappear in an instant.
What I am is a fellow cultural wayfinder.
I’m someone who, like you, is in the world right now, with all of its possibility and suffering. I’m on the journey called life, with all of its ups and downs finding her way.
I’m here to crew on your boat alongside you – to offer perspective, encouragement, challenge, and a bit of woman-power – as you discover the constellations you’re going to navigate by and sail on the waters of your life.
My greatest wish for you is that you leave our time together:
- In deeper relationship with your whole being – your body, heart, mind, & intuition;
- In closer proximity to your own nature, gifts, and aspirations;
- Wiser, more self-aware and compassionate with yourself and others;
- More present, joyful, agile and confident as a leader and a human being;
- More resourced and artful in navigating the unpredictable waters of modern day life now and in the future.
- Creating new possibilities for yourself and our world.
