The Origin of True North

I am at a point in my life where making decisions and seeking direction has become just another aspect of everyday life. People are constantly asking me about my future plans, goals, dreams, and ambitions. Unfortunately, I too often don’t have a good answer to give in response. My solution? True North.

The purpose of this blog is not to give others the scoop on my life. More so, it is a tool for myself to discover and weigh my passions and interests, document my life experiences and memories, strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I think and clear my head best when I can get my thoughts onto paper (or in this case, a blog entry). Ever since a young age, I have journaled on and off. Not the “Dear Diary, today I have a crush on so-and-so,” journaling, although I had those moments at times (of course, I was a young girl like any other). But I enjoyed journaling as a way of keeping account of memories and typical daily events, things that made me happy, things that ticked me off, things that I was looking forward to, people that meant a lot to me, so on and so forth.

Just over a year ago, I incorporated journaling into my Jesus-time, and made an effort to write at least a small entry every day, just thanking God for what He did that day or bringing before Him any problems, anxieties, or worries that were weighing me down. And that ended up being so helpful. I love going back and rereading entries, reminding myself of His faithfulness, and just reading about memories that make me break out into a smile, cringe, tear up, or burst into a fit of giggles.

You may be wondering where the "True North" comes into play.  It refers to the guiding direction of a compass. A compass serves as a common symbol; pretty much everyone knows that a compass is used as a directional tool to help people find their way. Within the past year, I realized that on the compass app, there are two settings: Magnetic North and True North. True North is the direction from any point toward the North Pole. Magnetic North may vary where Earth's magnetic activity changes, but True North is constant. So as I set out on this journey, seeking God’s plans and direction in my life, True North seemed to be quite the fitting analogy. My God is the constant, never changing One who guides me along life's paths. Thus, I plan to implement my journaling habits into this blog, hoping to seek wisdom and gain direction along the way.

-MM