The Art of Being Lost

 

The dictionary definition of being lost is “unable to find one’s way; not knowing one’s whereabouts” (Google dictionary). Especially at this stage of our lives, I believe “lost” is a word that describes what many of us are feeling. We feel lost in the huge school we only attended for half a school year. We feel lost in our academic lives, taking hard courses that we were told to take in order to get into the right college. We feel lost with our own identities; we don’t know who we are. We feel lost mentally in this draining pandemic. We feel lost in our future; we don’t know where we’re going or what’s going to happen. 

For me at least, all of these things are true. I feel lost in the giant building I call my school. I feel lost in my classes, taking AP this and advanced that, with everything being online this year it is twice as hard to learn. I feel lost with myself. Who am I? What defines me? What is my impact? Where do I belong? I feel mentally lost. This pandemic has hit hard. It is so mentally draining to sit through zooms all day and do homework all night, and then repeat for who knows how long. Most of all, I feel lost in my future. Junior year is coming up, when am I going to take my ACT and SAT? Will I score well? Will I get into my dream college? When will this pandemic end? What does the future hold? These are all questions that have kept me up at night. The thing is, we don’t have the answers to everything just yet. It’s ok to have questions. It’s ok to not know your way yet. Sometimes it’s ok to be lost. Sometimes you need to be lost in order for you to find yourself.