148. The north star
Losing my knack for losing things.
In which Rebecca loses her notebook, seeks solace from her friends and adopts some new technology.
Dear Reader,
For a long time stars have guided sailors, pilots and adventurers, and as a result language – and not just our own – sparkles with star-related metaphors.
In its post Celestial symbolism in writing, writing resource hub School of Plot describes stars as ‘…symbols of guidance, hope and destiny, especially the North Star (or Polaris). They can also represent the infinite and unattainable, or alternatively they can represent inspiration.’
In their article, the astronomers at Earth Sky tell us more about Polaris:
The north star is famous for holding nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it. That’s because it’s located very close to the north celestial pole, the point around which the entire northern sky turns.
They even tell us where it is – although as a self-confessed disorient I am not sure what I am to do with it once I find it. Still, here goes:
Finding Polaris means you know the direction north.
Best of all, you can readily find Polaris by using the prominent group of stars known as the Big Dipper, called the Plough in the United Kingdom, which may be the Northern Hemisphere’s most famous star pattern. To locate Polaris, all you have to do is to find the Big Dipper pointer stars Dubhe and Merak. These two stars outline the outer part of the Big Dipper’s bowl. Simply draw a line from Merak through Dubhe, and go about five times the Merak/Dubhe distance to Polaris.
Polaris also marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. The Little Dipper is tougher to spot in the night sky than the Big Dipper. But if you use the Big Dipper’s pointer stars to locate Polaris, you’ll be one step closer to seeing the Little Dipper.
Taken from EarthSky.com
I’ve drawn a diagram to show you. Disclaimer: it’s a) not to scale, b) not necessarily north, and c) frankly, I only eyeballed it. Please don’t use it as a map. 😉
Numerous sources refer to ‘finding one’s north star’ in relation to their life’s aims. Some people consider theirs to be a fixed point; a permanent mark of forever focus, but for others it’s a shifting target according to how their metaphorical universe changes over time.
John Maeda’s exploration of the theme is my favourite:
In Silicon Valley it isn’t unusual to hear someone use the phrase, “But what’s your North Star?” It is a good, centering phrase to use because it feels like a dramatic line in a movie. It’s generally followed by an epic pause where everyone listening is prepared to have their entire reality re-align. Because the North Star is the single source of truth — and by having one, you never have to feel or get lost. Just look up to the sky, and follow the North Star.
But Roger von Oech in this ancient blog post from 2007 points out how the North Star isn’t necessarily the same star over time. It is a cool concept because — think of it for a second — that star up there that has been guiding your life’s mission all along, and you think it has been there for eternity. But it wasn’t always the guide for “true North” — no matter how absolute you want to believe its role should be.
Taken from maeda.pm
The authors of the article on earthsky.org were careful to call Polaris ‘the present-day North Star’ because, dear Reader, it moves.
For several years I have had a constant companion moving with me in the form of a blue passport-sized traveller’s notebook from Traveler’s Company. Inside the cover is a dot-grid notebook, and I slip my pen in there too if I’m not using it.
I number my pages so that I’ll be able to find specific notes again. Everything goes down in here – random ideas for future posts, whole sentences and paragraphs intended for my current work-in-progress, snippets of text gleaned from museum interpretation boards, notes and quotes from books I’m reading – all of these things land in this temporary, mobile archive for future writerly reference.
As part of my evening routine I record information to access again by making an entry by subject and page number in my writing log, and it’s thanks to that book on my desk that I knew my notebook must still be in the house when I couldn’t find it one morning last month.
I’d been out the day before, and at first I’d wondered if I might have left the book at work or in my mum’s car, or even – horror of horrors – that I’d dropped it somewhere during our afternoon walk. But no: thanks to my note-logging process I had documentary evidence that the book had been on my desk that same evening.
Given that I hadn’t left the building since I’d got up, the notebook must be in the house. I started my search, but already, just few frustrating minutes later, I needed support. I sent Mum a text.
Long shot, but is my very small blue leather notebook with stripy rubber band in the back of your car?
Reader, it wasn’t.
Now, I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t involve everyone around me in my end-of-the-world moments every single trivial challenge I encounter, and I soon made sure that my missing notebook had made headlines in more e-mail and iMessage inboxes.
iMessage to Jim at 08.30
I cannot find my tiny blue notebook with the rainbow rubber band – this is a massive, massive deal. I’m in such a state about it.
From: Rebecca
Subject: Stricken
Date: 25 April 2024 at 08:50:59 BST
To: Terry
I have LOST MY NOTEBOOK.
That is all.
😭
On 25 Apr 2024, at 08:51, Terry wrote:
What??? Not in the house? Car? Where did you last see it?
From: Rebecca
Subject: Re: Stricken
Date: 25 April 2024 at 09:05:39 BST
To: Terry
Thing is, it MUST be in the house - I have evidence of it having been on my desk before I went to bed last night. I’m going to fit a tracker to the thing when it does turn up - I’m beside myself!
On 25 Apr 2024, at 09:26, Terry wrote:
You have to think of (a) where you've been and (b) the least likely place you would store it but also the most likely place you would put it down for a minute. For example, in the airing cupboard or fridge (I'm not joking). Or could you have decided to look at it in bed, in which case it could be mixed up with bed clothes or under the bed. If last seen on desk, could it have fallen in waste paper bin, or be under a book?
From: Rebecca
Subject: Re: Stricken
Date: 25 April 2024 at 11:08:54 BST
To: Terry
Good ideas - thank you so much. So far I’ve found two things I’d lost, including a pair of trousers which Jim had given me for Christmas. Still no joy. It’s driving me to distraction!
On 25 Apr 2024, at 12:21, Terry wrote:
Try looking in:
Freezer
Oven
Inside another book
Studio
Handbag
Rucksack
The freezer? The oven? Come on, Terry! I moved on to Sharron.
From: Rebecca
Date: 25 April 2024 at 16:20:30 BST
To: Sharron
I have LOST my notebook. Once I find the thing - IF I do - I shall weld a tracker to it AND Velcro the darn thing to my thigh. I’m trying to write a post but it’s got holes in it which can only be filled once I find my notes.
iMessage to Mum at 18.49
Thanks to my page-numbering and indexing system I can find my way around my notebook, but those are no good to me if I can’t find the notebook. 🙄
I considered what I’d said in those two e-mail exchanges:
Once I find the thing - IF I do - I shall weld a tracker to it AND Velcro the darn thing to my thigh.
I’m going to fit a tracker to the thing when it does turn up.
I needed an urgent chat with my IT consultant, who was in the kitchen dealing with the thick layer of dust on which he’d found my notebook.
‘How big’s an AirTag?’
‘Why?’
‘I’d like one for my notebook.’
Putting down his broom, Jim went to rummage in his work bag for one to show me.
‘This is exactly what I need!’ I opened my computer and headed for the Apple website with Jim peering over my shoulder.
‘Ha, they must’ve had you in mind when they dreamed up that slogan!’
🙄 Okay, thanks, Jim.
So what is an AirTag? Here’s what Apple say about it:
AirTag is a super-easy way to keep track of your stuff. Attach one to your keys, slip another in your backpack. And just like that, they’re on your radar in the Find My app, where you can also track down your Apple devices and keep up with friends and family.
Taken from Apple.com
I opened a new browser window and hit Google. Soon I’d found dozens of lists of ideas for how AirTags can be used containing everything from tracking pets to finding your lost luggage at the airport. Among the more creative suggestions was high-tech hide and seek to keep one’s kids occupied. How? Just hide an AirTag, pass the kids your phone and watch them head off in the direction the Find My app’s arrow is pointing.
This has its downsides, according to one Quora user:
Kids can spend hours playing AirTag hide and seek, but the game ends when I need my phone back.
AirTags can go astray, as Reddit user castleinthesky86 testifies:
I had 4 AirTags. 1 for boy’s wallet, 1 for boy’s pencil case, 1 for boy’s school work bag, 1 for boy’s PE kit bag. Now have 3.
He loses things a lot.
His school bag broke so he binned it (didn’t bother to clear it out or bring it home). Last time I checked its location it was in a landfill sorting site.
Horrified but encouraged, I quickly added an AirTag to my online basket.
Jim told me to slow down.
‘Hang on, do you want to put a picture on it? They’ll do it for free!’
I scrolled through the options. What should I choose? My initial? My favourite eyeroll emoji? I was hoping to find a notebook symbol, or any book, actually.
No. Reader, I picked the star. ⭐️
Next day, with the AirTag’s empty packaging still strewn around me, Jim showed me how to set it up using the ‘Find My’ app.
‘You need a name for it.’
I tapped out the letters N-o-t-e-b-o-o-k on my keyboard, thought for a moment, then deleted them. I started again.
P-o-l-a-r-i-s.
Reader, I’d be lost without my notebook. As a disorient I struggle to find my way around, but whereas in the landscape any map I use becomes a confusing irrelevance, as a writer I follow the routes in my notebook. The ever-changing pages of this unlikely atlas – my own north star – contain all the directions I need.
Thank you for reading. You, dear Reader, are a star. ⭐️
Love,
Rebecca
📚 Further reading about my notebooks 📚
📚 Long-term readers have already met my pocket notebook; in fact, it featured in my very first post!
📚 I’ve taken to keeping my notebook mostly in my pocket, but for a long time it had its own strap on my belt. Ever wondered how to wear your notebook? Well, here are some ideas!
Regular readers of ‘Dear Reader, I’m Lost' will be no strangers to my ongoing light-hearted letter-writing project with fellow Brit
of . It’s his turn to reply to me on Wednesday, and you can find the archive of our chortlesome correspondence here.If you’ve enjoyed this post, please let me know by clicking the heart. Thank you!
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I'd forgotten about air tags. As for your scurrilous dismissal of my suggestions, I know someone who put her house keys in the fridge once. After an hour of frantically searching, she thought ok, let’s think calmly with a cup of tea, and when she went to get the milk, there they were.
What a delightful adventure. I gotta say Rebecca, your writing reminds me most of Enid Blyton. I think you should try your hand a writing a few adventure stories! 🤗
And congrats on finding that notebook back!