Lost? Take Out Your Globe.

I have a new phone. I left the dark ages of only being able to call and text, to the enlightened age of access to my emails, Facebook and internet -- all in the palm of my hand.

And GPS. My new phone has GPS.

This proved to be a lifesaver when Zach and I took a road trip in Colorado in July. I had printed out directions before we left for the trip, using Google Maps. My son shook his head in disbelief, "You have it on your phone now, Mom", but I printed directions anyway.

Just. In Case.

(It's hard to let go of the familiar.)

After a stop for gas and food, my son took over driving. He got out my phone and plugged in our destination. Soon the soothing voice of Freddie (short for Fredricka) filled the car, telling us to go "right in two blocks" or "continue straight for 30.4 miles."

When we got to Denver, rain was falling in sheets, causing the car to hydroplane through standing water on the freeway. Visibility was limited. Several times we had to exit, do a u-turn and head a different direction as we encountered road blocks, flooded streets and detours. Through it all, above the pounding rain, we could hear Freddie's voice, "Recalculating. Recalculating",  and "Turn left in 3 blocks on Washington Avenue."

Freddie got us to our destination. We might still be wandering the back roads of the Rockies, totally lost, if it wasn't for her electronic voice.

That experience planted an idea in my brain.

I want a GPS for my life. For my goals. For my dreams.

I want a Freddie to tell me when to turn left and to turn right. When I make a wrong turn, I want an audible voice to recalculate and point me in a new direction. Because not only can I become confused and turned around in a rainstorm in Denver, I can get messed up and disorientated in this thing we call life.

But I have to agree with Jeff Goins, who said people "want a map and instead they've been given a globe."

A globe - remember those things from World Geography class? You used them to find the five oceans and the seven continents and you ran your fingers over the raised topography of the Himalayas and the Andes. And you located Zimbabwe and the Strait of Magellan and discovered Timbuktu was a real place.

And maybe surrounded by the smell of white board markers (although I had the sound and smell of chalk on the chalkboard), you realized that when your teacher handed you the globe, she handed you the world.

Which is as it should be.

Dreams shouldn't be limited to what can be programmed into a GPS, with no room for side trips and taking the back roads and parking the car for an hour to hike up to a waterfall.

So why do I want a GPS for my life?

Because I am afraid.

I am afraid I will go left when I should go right. I am afraid that I will climb a mountain, only to find there is no path on the other side. I am afraid I will get carsick on the scenic route. (Been there. Done that).

When I decided to pursue writing, I drove myself insane trying to decide if I wanted to write fiction or nonfiction, poetry or romance, short story or memoir. I made lists of pros and cons. I wrote in my journal. I couldn't decide.

Then I read a blog where the author basically said. "Make a decision and head in that direction."

She handed me a globe. I wanted a GPS.

I had to choose.

When you plan a vacation, you have to decide if you are going to New York or California, to the mountains or to the desert. Once you make the major decision, you eliminate the other choices, but the possibilities are still endless.

Are you going to upstate New York or to New York City? Are you going to Staten Island? The Empire State building? Will you take in a Broadway show?

Dreams start with a globe. As you make choices and move in a general direction, then and only then, can you take out the GPS.

In regard to writing, I decided to pursue fiction. I liked the idea that fiction allowed me to write stories full of questions and trouble and mess while nonfiction is more about marketing an answer. I started in a general direction, taking classes and meeting other writers. I read books on the craft of writing. I continued blogging, building my platform.

I am not sure where the road is taking me, but I am on the journey. I have taken the first steps.

When I get lost, I take out my globe.

How about you? Do you like detailed directions or are you fine with a globe? Do you sometimes get paralyzed with the enormity of a dream?