This week I have chosen to share a poem entitled “Old Maps no Longer Work.”
The poem talks of change, as humans, we don’t really like change. Our brains are wired to view any type of change as danger, no matter how small, and it does this for our own protection. We store how we react to situations in something called the hippocampus – this is like a giant filing cabinet in our brain. When we are faced with change, we find the file (map) that best fits and then we respond accordingly. Unfortunately, these files (maps) can sometimes be unhelpful. In Solution Focused Hypnotherapy we help clients access these files (maps) and teach them how to change them so that they are in control of how they respond when faced with change, to see the light again.
This poem speaks of the struggle of dealing with change. Enjoy!
Old Maps No Longer Work
I keep pulling it out – the old map of my inner path. I squint closely at it, trying to see some hidden road that maybe I’ve missed, but there’s nothing there now except some well-travelled paths. They have seen my footsteps often, held my laughter, caught my tears.
I keep going over the old map but now the roads lead nowhere, a meaningless wilderness where life is dull and futile.
“Toss away the old map,” she says, “you must be kidding!” I reply. She looks at me with gentle eyes and repeats “toss it away. It’s of no use where you’re going.”
“I have to have a map!” I cry, “even if it takes me nowhere. I can’t be without direction,” “but you are without direction,” she says, “so why not let go, be free?”
So there I am – tossing away the old map, sadly, fearfully, putting it behind me. “Whatever will I do?” wails my security, “trust me” says my midlife soul. No map, no specific directions, no “this way ahead” or “take a left”. how will l know where to go? How will I find my way? No map!
But then my midlife soul whispers “there was a time before maps when pilgrims travelled by the stars.”
It is time for the pilgrim in me to travel in the dark, to learn to read the stars that shine in my soul.
I will walk deeper into the dark of my night. I will wait for the stars. Trust their guidance, and let their light be enough for me.
by Joyce Rupp