Compass Point 1— What Happened?

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash

Compass Point 1— What Happened?

Finding your footing when the old map stops working.

When life changes, most people don’t pause because they want to.
They pause because something feels off —
and moving the same way no longer works.

Discomfort shows up.
Friction.
A quiet sense that something needs to shift.

That instinct is reasonable.
But before improvement helps, orientation matters.

This compass point is about surveying the landscape after change —
not to draw a new map yet,
but to understand the terrain you’re standing in now.

To notice what is fixed.
What still has flex.
And where the new boundaries are.

Sometimes change doesn’t arrive one piece at a time.
It arrives in layers,
requiring adaptation on several fronts at once.

In the aftermath of that kind of change,
it can feel like being carried forward by momentum you didn’t choose —
moving, but not quite oriented,
unsure where you’ll land.

When you feel that way, quick fixes make sense.
Rebound relationships.
Big purchases.
Fast decisions meant to restore a sense of motion.

Quick fixes feel good immediately.
They offer relief.
They create the appearance of forward movement.

But relief isn’t the same as orientation.

Compass Point 1 exists for the long, uneven stretch that follows —
not to keep you stuck,
but to help you understand the landscape
before you try to improve it.

To identify what still points true.
To begin noticing a North Star —
not as a destination,
but as a reference.

The answers aren’t outside you.
They’re already forming.

What often helps is language —
questions that clarify instead of overwhelm,
words that make what you’re sensing easier to recognize.

This is the first compass point.
Not a conclusion.
An orientation.

Before movement.
Before identity shifts.
Before decisions.

Just an honest place to begin with one essential question:

Compass Point 1 — What Happened?

Stories from this place

• The Days That Don’t Make Sense.

• The Checkout Line Where My Body Ran Out

• When the Body Breaks

• You Don’t Look Sick

• Naked In the Dark

This story lives in Compass Point 1 — What Happened?