I hate getting lost. The fear of getting lost is one of those fears that I have held for as long as I can remember. Maybe it was all those fairy tales I used to read as a child, or over protective parents (I’m sure a therapist would have fun helping me sort this one out!) but the fear of getting lost is one of the ‘biggie’ fears for me. At least it was, until this past weekend….

Hamilton Ontario, source: John Piercy, Flickr

There is an exhibit on at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (that’s Hamilton, Ontario), that I really wanted to see. The ‘VisiaItalia’ exhibit gathered Italian Renaissance Art from galleries across Canada to put on a rather impressive display. So my husband and I headed down to Burlington to pick up my daughter and son-in-law and off to Hamilton we went. Fortunately my husband was driving. We had never driven to the Art Gallery of Hamilton before, so to make sure there were no problems getting there I brought the GPS (always trust the GPS — well most of the time!!), printed out maps and directions from Mapquest, and had one of those yellow covered map books, and we still got lost. In fact, we ended up in the east side on Hamilton when we wanted to be an the west side of Hamilton.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Hamilton, Ontario. I think it is a great city and would have no problems living there. Its got some stunning attractions – a great waterfront, numerous waterfalls, urban walking trails, great parks, super sports teams (except for an NHL team!!), a castle, a cute downtown area, beautiful houses, fantastic malls and shopping areas, a Botanical Garden that rivals the best in the world, and a thriving arts and culture scene.

There is one thing about Hamilton, however, that sends the chill of fear down my spine every time I think of driving there.

Every time I drive to Hamilton I get lost. In fact, everyone I know gets lost driving in or through Hamilton. This is a city that both a GPS and Mapquest have difficulties sorting out – in fact it was following Mapquest’s directions that landed us in the wrong side of Hamilton (we should have trusted the GPS!!).

Hamilton is a city that constantly challenges my sense of direction – and generally wins. I’m not exactly sure why this happens. Maybe its because Hamilton is located south of Lake Ontario, and I’m used to being north of the Lake. This tends to be somewhat disorienting. Or maybe its all those one way streets throughout the downtown and surrounding areas. One wrong turn and you’re lost. Two wrong turns in a row and you are really lost.

Whatever the reason, I’ve managed to see more of Hamilton from dealing with being lost than I would have otherwise – and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen. Being lost provided us with a very pleasant drive through some really pretty parts of Hamilton this past weekend. We finally started trusting the GPS and, despite the fact that it seemed to be taking us in the wrong direction, it eventually led us to exactly where we wanted to be.

And that’s when it hit me – being lost isn’t always a bad thing. It’s not something to always be fearful of.

As long as you have your Plan B and are prepared to trust your sense of direction, or trust your maps, or trust your GPS, or trust that you will ask for directions, then being lost can be a good thing. Being lost gives you a chance to explore and to discover, and that can be exciting.

So, how do you deal with the thought of getting lost? Is it one of your fears? Or do you enjoy the challenge and excitement of being lost?

TTFN

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