Beyond the Map: The Courage to Navigate Uncertainty

Not long ago, I came across a quote by Wendell Berry that startled me into stillness:

“When we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.”

At first, it read like poetic riddling. But the more I sat with it, the more I felt its quiet provocation.

We spend most of our lives holding tightly to plans, goals, frameworks, fueled by the comforting illusion that certainty can be earned through sheer effort. But what happens when even our best strategies fail us? When we are brought to the edge of knowing, stripped of what’s familiar?

Berry invites us to consider that this is not a breakdown, it’s a beginning.

The “real work” begins when our scripts dissolve. When we are no longer acting out roles or chasing pre-written successes, we step into something truer. This is the wilderness of becoming.

The “real journey” starts not with knowing where to go, but with trusting the movement of not knowing. It's in this raw, liminal space that leaders are made, not through confidence, but through courage.

Your transformation isn’t measured in better answers, it is revealed in your capcity to hold deeper, more courageous questions. In the unknown, something essential awakens: your inner compass. Not the one that points north, but the one that points true.

When was the last time you let yourself get lost—on purpose?

What if your uncertainty is not a detour, but the destination?

Until next time - unlearning with you,
Natasa

P.S. Pause for five minutes right now and reflect: What is one uncertainty you’re facing today? Instead of searching immediately for a solution, write down three questions this uncertainty is inviting you to explore.

P.P.S. Reply and tell me what resonated the most!