A brief confusion between your ’left’ and your 'other left’, can end in an utter misunderstanding of the relationship between ’map' and ’reality’.

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I am always a little surprised by the lack of my partner’s sense of direction. Less so now then when we first met, as I see the same trait expressed by our eldest son. 

It begins subtly as a brief confusion between your ’left’ and your 'other left’, and ends in an utter misunderstanding of the relationship between ’map' and ’reality’.  Please don’t get me wrong, she is a smart cookie; one of the brightest bulbs in the sign, as it were, but in this one trait there is simply a little disconnect. 

This is all quite foreign to me. I won't deceive myself and claim to have some innate extra sense in my head,  but I am able to consistently and accurately locate myself within my surroundings. That seems to be a safe way to frame it. 

When I was nine years old, I began a strong relationship with maps. Before a road-trip, the map was unfolded and fully explored. The spiderweb of roads fascinated me and I would imagine that the map was a miniature version of the real world.  

When I started canoeing and hiking I was just as interested with that ’map equals real world’ relationship. I would study the route before a trip. Then, when I was out in the wilds, I would locate our party on the map and try to orient our location in relation to other landmarks such as a creek bed or various hill tops.  

I have long known that I have a strong aptitude for spatial reasoning. I can look at two dimensional construction drawings and understand what an object will look like in reality. I guess that ability helps with interpreting maps as well. In a sense I look at a map and imagine a tiny version of me standing there, while the real me is still able to see the bigger picture of the larger map from above. 

Back at home after an outing I would linger over our maps and remember the numerous moments of the trip, reminded  by the imagery that was the miniature paper world before me. 

In time, I was able to read a map and quickly relate it to the world around me.  Relate, not in the standard ’orienteering’ manner, but in a same way most people can visualize a 100 foot tall oak tree, simply by reading the phrase ’100 foot tall oak tree’. To me, looking down upon a map is equivalent to floating a thousand feet in the air, looking down upon the earth - they are the same. When embarking on a trip to a new area, the act of studying the relevant maps is sufficient to infuse a sense of familiarity with the new terrain. 

So, do I have a great sense of direction? No, not nescisarily, its more an understanding of my surroundings.