Thursday Thoughts: Lost

What does last mean?  I can’t find a thing, so it’s lost.  Okay, but if I can’t my way, then I’m lost.  But I can find me, even if I don’t know exactly where I am at the moment.

Someone once asked the great explorer and trail blazer, Daniel Boone,  “Dan’l, have you ever been lost?”

Boone is reported to have replied,  “No.  I cain’t rightly say I’ve ever been lost.  But I’ve been bewilder’d some.”

I’d back that up with words from my primary flight instructor, a very seasoned flier by the name of Art Jones.  When I was learning the art of aerial navigation, I asked Art,  “What do you do if you get lost?”

Art replied,  “I’m never lost.  I don’t always know exactly where I am, but I’m never lost.”

I guess, for people, lost is a state of mind.  But for objects, lost means that they can’t be readily made available.

I’ve just been through a spell of lost stuff.  Things seem to have developed the ability to move around on their own.  My wonderful GoreTex ™ cycling cap disappeared recently.  It went missing just before that last stretch of rainy weather.  I looked everywhere for the thing.  I shredded the laundry room, turned all the dresser drawers out, went through every gear bag, back pack, pannier, messenger bag, and took everything out of my truck.  Did all that, and some of it twice.  No luck.  Then, on Monday, while I was retrieving a seldom used tool from the under shelf of my workbench, the thing just popped out.  I have no vague idea how it got there.

Of course, just as I “found” my rainproof cycling cap, one of my important back up light-sets went missing.  This causes me to wonder if there isn’t a conservation principle at work here.  Something like this:

The Universe is divided into that which is Lost, and that which is Found.

Lostness will be conserved.

• It cannot be diminished or reduced.
• If, at any time, local lostness is reduced it will be found that the total lostness of the Universe has increased.
• Eventually everything will be lost.
• Lost objects can be made found, but only total lostness will increase.  (Something else will be lost, along with a “cost” of lost time and energy.)

Seems to make sense to me.

This brings me to cycling.  One of my favorite pass-times is to go out on a bike and get “lost.”  I’m using the word in the Daniel Boone-Art Jones sense here.  When I do this, I’m never lost, but I am often bewildered, and sometimes don’t know exactly where I am.  I’ve found that, given plenty of time and resources, this “getting lost” can be a delightful use of time.  If one is on a schedule, or low on resources, it’s a great producer of stress and anxiety.

A good clarifying example of this would be night riding in unfamiliar areas.  If I have enough battery or generator to make light all night long, or if I have a functional cell phone, then not knowing exactly where I am is not a worry.  On the other hand, if the phone has no signal, and the batteries are running low, not knowing where I am is a serious problem.

But then, problems are opportunities.  And resourcefulness must be tested from time to time.  If not, how would we know if we have it?

Some of the best discoveries I've ever made came from being "lost."  I highly recommend it.  Take some time, and go get lost.