Why is it that – without visual cues – humans walk in circles?

This interesting fact is just ripe for plumbing with a literary metaphor.

In this typically adorable NPR video, Robert Krulwich explains that without visual cues, humans are unable to walk straight. In a blizzard, a fog, or with a blindfold on, we end up walking in ever tightening curly cues across the landscape. This holds true if we take a car across a vast, deserted Texan field void of trees or buildings at night, or jump blindfolded into a lake and attempt to swim to the other side.

Much of yoga and the study of our chakras deals with our tendencies to go off kilter and lose balance. What does the fact that we are unable to find a balanced, straight path in such an elemental way mean?

Perhaps it is the universe telling us that without guidance and cues – from friends, culture, history, and dreams – we can never find our way through life and to our destination, whatever that is. We just end up walking in circles, and always finding ourselves right back where we started.