My Eastward Pointing Compass

I have an important question for you to start off the new year. Do you own a compass? An actual tangible compass with the rotating needle that always points true north? I do! The week before I moved to France eight years ago my good friends, Ken and Beth, gifted me one. "If you get lost you can find your way home." I actually used it a few times before I got the GPS unit for my car. It's easy to get turned around in the Pyrenées. Every bend in the road looks very much like the one before it. I remember pulling over to the side of the road (which is difficult in rural France because there are no shoulders), getting out my trusty compass, comparing it to the map I always had with me, and figuring out where I needed to go to get me to my destination.

A few years before my new compass, I spent a few days in Venice with Ken and Beth along with my cousin Cindy and good friend Dave. One gets lost in Venice even with a map! There are no through streets (all pedestrian, of course) and no street signs. Just a labyrinth of walkways and paths that only the residents can easily maneuver. Ken's compass was very handy! I would check my map for where we wanted to end up and give Ken the direction that we needed to go. He would then get out his compass and turn me to face in the right direction and off we would go until we ran into yet another brick wall - literally! Then the process would start again! Not sure what the locals thought but we certainly enjoyed ourselves!

In our modern life of convenience and technology we always have a GPS nearby - either in our car or on our phone. So, unless you're a scout, you probably don't have an actual compass.

Did you know that the compass was first used in ancient China? It was a lodestone, which is naturally magnetic, placed in a basin of water so it could swivel easily. It wasn't until the 11th century that someone experimented with magnetizing a metal needle and placing it in a small non-water instrument. Amazing that it would always point  North! Imagine how that changed the ability to travel and explore.  Not only could people travel but they could find their way back home! It was magical!

The first blog that I posted in January of 2015 attempted to explain the pull that SW France had on me. The passion I felt for wanting to live in the country that I love so much.  I was in love with France the way someone falls in love with a person. It was an all-consuming desire! You can read that first blog post by clicking on the "View website" icon at the end of this post. That will take you to the blog home page. Then you can find the year - 2015 and find the list of posts I wrote in January. (Wish I knew of an easier way for you to get there!)

We may not all have a tangible compass but we all have a moral compass. I've thought a lot about that since hearing of the death of Jimmy Carter. Now there was a human who not only had a moral compass but who honored that compass in every decision that he made. What a wonderful example of a life that meant something and touched so many lives in many positive ways every day of his life.

In this new year of 2025, may we all ascribe to be like Jimmy Carter and live a life of service. Make something of every day and celebrate being alive. Follow your compass and follow your heart.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and BONNE ANNÉE