Never
Eat
Soggy
Waffles
Or something like that, the mnemonic device we were all taught in order to remember North, South, East and West. Or was it sour watermelons in your neck of the woods? These days, I navigate by a different kind of compass, one I've come to call the compass of alignment. We’ll get to that.
Of course, I know what an actual compass looks like and I have seen the dial move on a hiking trail but that is about the extent of it for me. When I lived by the ocean, that humongous marker helps but on the rarest of occasions, I couldn’t tell you which way North is. I wish you could have seen me as a teenager with printed mapquest notes (who remembers mapquest?) in the front seat, there was a loop of a highway and oh, I would loop it. And my oh my, I used to lead hikes on mountain trails for groups, can you even imagine how many times I had to go practice the trail beforehand? A lot, a lot.
In all honesty, I have never really operated within the systems of man-made tools like direction and time. I realize that is the most Aquarian thing I might have ever written and yes, it does make me chuckle a bit all while my husband is shaking his head as he loves being on time and always know which way is West.
This, however, makes me a fun person to co-create with as I lean all the way into delusional visions and there is really never only one way to do something, the possibilities and thus, directions to go are endless. And while this sounds very fun (and is), I have found I have yearned for a tool that does work for me - one that does clarify exactly where I am standing and can support direction that feels aligned for me. One where I don’t feel lost all the time, you know?
Enter, the compass of alignment.
The compass still plays within the structure that I have been taught with the up and down and right to left lines, however, the language and magnetic pull is different because instead of looking to the earth’s poles, I turn to my own. My emotions, my nervous system, my felt sense of safety and home and identity ever changing and yet, defined, add my people and my community, too, these are my inner magnetic pull forces.
Have I lost you?
That is okay, by the end of this, you will have your own compass to consider + create and then direction to get back home to your own self.
In my life’s work, I have really tuned in to what has supported me the most in finding and feeling my center. I am a forever student and would truly sign up for certifications for the rest of my days if one of my astute teachers had not looked at me one day and said, ‘it is time to use what you have and lead, dear one’. And she was right.
Along the journey of devouring self help books, crying in rom-coms, receiving feedback on retail floors and conference rooms, along with the many certifications I do have somewhere in a folder in a moving box in a room I could never tell you where, I have found the compass, my compass.
Here are the basics:
My south node is designated to my core values. The things that matter most to me. The anchors that distinguish what I say yes and no to and how I know I have gone too far in say, the wrong direction. When someone says something that bothers me, it is usually connected to my core values and what I believe to be true.
My north node is connected to my vision, my desire for where I want to go. This is where I can close my eyes and see the hopes + dreams I desire and begin to map out how to get there.
My east and west nodes are the people, my people and people around me. This includes my family, my nearest and dearest friends, far away friends and my larger community. The connective force of people has two nodes and that makes sense to me. I usually play with family and friends on the left side of the compass and community and other on the right side of the compass.
And at the center, is the heart of the compass and there resides my why. My why for decisions I made, for the work I do, for the words I write and even love I have for my children, my Chris and our beloved Earth. Every line goes through the center, again and again.
This compass didn't just help me find my footing, it became an essential tool that I wanted to hand to others, too, one node at a time. These are the themes of each of my e-books, Getting Found on core values, Within Your Dreams on vision design, and CONNECT on people and community, with the final and fourth book on knowing your why (currently still in drafts). These e-books will come to a culmination in my final offering in this digital series, this exact conversation, the compass of alignment. More to come on that later.
When I was spiraling out of control this week, as we will have weeks and phases of life that shake the ground we stand upon, I finally sat down and re-visited my compass. I felt the magnetic pull of the core values reminding me what matters and anchoring me in current choices. I took time, albeit so vulnerable, with my vision and inquired why I feel so far away right now? And I called my people, hugged my children, went to my favorite coffee shop and connected with my husband. An then as I landed in the center of the compass, there it was, I realized my why needed a recalibration. I have been wondering why my fourth book has been so hard to write, it was me who was a touch disconnected to my why. I have not landed on all the language, however, I now have direction. A space to place my spiraling thoughts and land even for a moment, in the now.
Because that is what a compass does, it allows you to land right where you are. And then, assess, reckon, realize and go. We all could use one, especially on days that create the spirals. So I will ask you, what are your gravitations pulls, how do you land and what/whom is at the center?
Happy compass-ing, it is a verb in every sense of the word now.
PSA: This is the exact work I will be leading in my immersive UNRAVEL program starting in September 2026 through May 2027. A collective space for you to design your own compass that, by the way, absolutely does not have to look like mine.
You are invited to join, details here.
About Jacki Carr
I’m Jacki. By day, I run a creative coaching business, a writing club and a community club. By night, I take really hot baths and then indulge within my library books way too late, some times into the next day. Here, I write about unleashing your creativity and opening Pandora’s box all the way up, haiku collections, and the essential salt of being all the way alive.
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