Free Spirit Meg

I had a lot of thoughts pop in my head when I saw the word compass. The first thing I thought of was the compass on my dad’s boat. We took the boat out on Lake Erie often. It was one of my favorite things to do with my family. We would go fishing and enjoy the sunshine. I would take a million pictures on my camera.

The second thought I had, was how my dad could navigate an atlas for road trips or give directions from memory when I needed to go somewhere. I remember one day when I was a new driver, I had a class at the art museum. It was in a part of the city that I didn’t go to often and it was a bit of a drive. This was before cell phones had google maps and I surely didn’t have a GPS. I don’t even know if that was a thing yet. But I had my trusting directions printed out on paper from google that I could follow to get to my destination. I got there okay. On my way home though, I missed something somewhere and kept getting turned around looking for my way back. I definitely did not inherit my dad’s natural compass. It was getting late and I was so frustrated and lost at this point. So, I pulled up the antennae on my dinky little cell phone and called my dad. I told him what roads I was on and he said, “How did you end up there? Roll up your windows, lock your doors and keep moving!” I thought, Holy Crap! Okay, Okay. He scared the 💩 out of me because it was obvious I wasn’t in a very friendly part of town. Luckily, he directed me back in no time until I recognized where I was again and I made it home! That story has always stuck with me. What a day. I’m a little better with my sense of direction now…a little.

My third thought was kind of cheesy but lets be honest my dad has been my compass through life. I’ve always kept in mind what he would do in situations and it helps me make better choices. I’m a better person because of his morals and values which have become my own. It helps my stay on the right path.

I really didn’t know how to put this all into a single sketch but I thought drawing a compass at my dads back would be a cool way to show that I will always have his direction to guide me.

I hope you enjoyed the sketch. We’re half way through the Inktober challenge. I’ve enjoyed this exercise so far, even if I do get a little overwhelmed sometimes. It’s been nice looking through old pictures and coming up with interpretations of memories with my dad. I think he would have really enjoyed reading these posts and laughing about how goofy he looks in some of the sketches. I can’t draw people very well okay! I think this one came out pretty good though. Thanks for reading!

Follow your compass, free spirits!