Nobody Move! I dropped my Context!

My grandfather used to navigate in cities the same way he did in the woods. He used landmarks. “Head toward the water tower,” he would say, or he’d tell us to keep the river on our left. This didn’t sit well with my dad. He liked maps. He believed in north, south, east, and west, but even more in street names and the numbers on the highways. He did not approve of my grandfather’s methods.

Here in Vermont people are always telling each other to turn left where something used to be. “Turn left where Sears used to be.” If you just moved here you would have no idea where Sears used to be. If you live here long enough you’ll find the same kinds of directions coming out of your own mouth.

Some of us remember when a particular life event took place based on the calendar date or how old we were. Others think about what job they had at the time, where they were living, who they were in a relationship with, or how old their children were.

These differences could be based on visual minds versus mathematical minds. But it could be something else. There is an aboriginal tribe in Australia that has no words for left and right, only for north, south, east, and west. I find this fascinating because left and right are person centric. The four cardinal directions are planet centric. Perhaps it’s about collectivism versus individualism.

Perhaps we are all unconsciously trying to fit in while still holding onto our own identities, even while giving directions. We provide our own context when we speak about anything. We want the other person to understand what we are saying but perhaps also to understand a little bit about who we are as well.

If people are really paying attention our words reveal what matters to us. Sometimes it’s the importance of following the rules or the accepted plan. Sometimes it’s an attempt to differentiate ourselves from some particular herd. Other times we’re demonstrating what brings us joy or what we are fearfully trying to avoid.

People always talk about the dangers of taking things out of context, but whose context is it? Who created it? Was it the speaker or the sub world in which the speaker speaks? Are we as speakers aware of the difference? I think I’ll walk down past where the train bridge used to be and think about that for a while.

Cinse Bonino
2023