I used to be more directionally challenged than I am today. I account this to some personal shortcomings or, perhaps, character defects, which occurred for some 30 years of my life.
Regardless, those went away, and my sense of direction improved greatly. I can now tell my left from my right with little interference from my brain.
But it seems to go one way or the other. Some of us are always terrible lost or “turned around,” while others seem to have a built-in compass.
Today’s historical remembrance is right along those lines. It was on this date, July 18, 1938, when Douglas Corrigan showed up in Dublin, Ireland. Now, that wouldn’t be such a big deal, except for the fact that Corrigan was supposed to be arriving in Long Beach, California, which is a long way off.
But there he was in Ireland, after flying from New York. He’d originally flown from Long Beach, California and his flight plan stated he was to return the same way. But he took off from the Big Apple and crossed the Atlantic instead. I would think he would have noticed all the water. Anyway. He was promptly christened Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan.
But there’s more to the story than a wrong turn out of pre-Laguardia.
Sometime earlier, Corrigan had been refused permission to attempt a transatlantic flight. He was a skilled aircraft mechanic and had been one of those who built the Spirit of St Louis. Yes, that Spirit of Saint Louis, Charles Lindbergh’s most famous plane, in which dashing young Charles made the first transatlantic flight in 1927.
It is thought that Corrigan wanted to show that he could fly a plane that was far inferior to Lindbergh’s. It was a plane that Corrigan had modified himself. So he filed false flight plans and went the wrong way without having permission.
He was wildly popular for this stunt. On his return, his ticker-tape parade in New York attracted more people than Lindburgh’s.
A great story, one for the underdog, and a nifty lesson about going in our own direction, despite what the “rules” are telling us to do.
In this case, it is clear. Corrigan meant to go the wrong way.
But, sometimes in our lives, we go in the wrong direction, and it turns out to be a mistake. Some people have the ability not to take those wrong turns. They say they do not have a single regret in their lives. I am not one of those people.
In fact. I have many regrets. Apparently, my skewed sense of direction affected several parts of my life, and to this day, I wish I could go back and do things differently.
But the part I have to remember is that if I didn’t make those turns, my life events would have gone much differently, and I wouldn’t be here typing this word. Word.
So. Here we are. Our lives unfolding exactly as they should be, I suppose. And I give thanks, every day, for this path which I am about to receive. For it is mine. And I am on it, hoping each day that I make the right turns. The good choices. The next right thing.
And. There’s the other thing. I wonder who sits in the big chair, at the big desk, with the “Ticker Tape Parade” rubber stamp in hand? Truly, I wonder who decides who deserves those papery parades?
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“It is a mistake to think that moving fast is the same as actually going somewhere.”
― Steve Goodier
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“It was a pity that there was no radar to guide one across the trackless seas of life. Every man had to find his own way, steered by some secret compass of the soul.”
― Arthur C. Clarke, Glide Path
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“If you lose direction,
go to a higher ground.”
― Toba Beta
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Wrong way. Or is it?
