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I have never hitchhiked in the literal sense. I’ve never stood on the side of a road and stuck out my thumb with the hopes that a passing vehicle would stop and pick me up. And when I think of hitchhiking, it conjures up all sorts of familiar tropes and cautionary tales.
I’m not so sure I agree with that definition and I’ll tell you why.
What stands out the most to me, is the idea that despite the inherent associated dangers, the hitchhiker has discerned that the fear of staying where they are, is far greater than the fear of where they are going.
And so, unattached to knowing where the journey will take them, they show up on the side of the road and extend their arm with a deliberate/emphatic/literal thumbs up to chance.
And that, from my point of view, qualifies as intention.
The definition of hitchhike cited earlier, is more aptly applied to the word “hijacked” as so many of us have felt over the past year. None of us intended to be “carried or transported by chance” to where we are now. We were essentially hijacked – diverted from where we thought we were going, to where we are today.
We’ve all experienced that “how did I get here?” feeling of time slipping past without us noticing. And we’ve all been guided in one way or another by principles or “rules of thumb” along the way.
The definition of a rule of thumb is “a generally accepted guideline, policy or method of doing something based on practice rather than facts.” A simple example of a rule of thumb is the general guideline that you don’t wear white after Labor Day.
And yet as we move toward “reopening”, we now find ourselves standing at a juncture that is offering us the opportunity to create new rules of thumb for ourselves, to chart new maps and travel new pathways both neural and rural.
Like the hitchhiker, we have the chance to choose old rules of thumb and return to life as we knew it or we can ask ourselves whether or not the fear of staying where we are is greater than the fear of where we might go.
Published in Collaboration with:
Lisa is an ICF Certified Professional Life Coach and Energy Leadership Master Practitioner at Wide Open Stages. She specializes in partnering with highly successful creative people who want to be challenged and inspired to become artists in all areas of their lives. A passionate creative professional herself, Lisa has over 25 years experience working in the performing arts industry as a director/choreographer, producer, writer and dance educator in NYC, nationally and internationally. She is dance faculty at Pace University NYC in the Commercial Dance and Musical Theater BFA programs, and is co-founder of New York Stage Originals, an internationally recognized theatrical production company. Lisa hosts the popular podcast STOPTIME: Live in the Moment and is founder of Wide Open Stages, where she coaches high-performing creatives in the performing arts industry.
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