What makes something an adventure?

(Psst! Kathy here. I’m very excited to have Christy join us for the next 13 weeks. I strongly suggest you check out her series introduction by clicking on the labyrinth photo below. And don’t forget to come back for all the Adventure goodness here!)

 

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

~ Mary Oliver

 

 

I love an adventure. I don’t care if I go far away or stay quite near.
For me, it’s all about the journey.

This has been an tremendous year of adventures for me. Last summer, our family took an amazing Western States tour: Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Zion, Las Vegas, Jerome (Arizona). I went on six school field trips with my boys. We went to California for Spring Break. We have made several day trips to various places and activities. Recently, my husband’s schedule has opened up a bit, and we have taken advantage of that to go on some great family adventures: we got a 1994 Blazer and fitted it with off-road worthy wheels so we could traverse off-road treks to explore the beautiful state in which we live. We spent some time in highly populated areas and lots of time in nature.

All this exploring has really gotten me pondering:

What makes something an adventure?

Perhaps its the new and unusual,
a chance to depart from the familiar, to step out of my comfort zone;
Maybe it’s the opportunity to grow or expand,
to learn something new or be shown a different viewpoint;
It might be the likelihood of the unexpected.

Then I wondered …. is it necessary to leave my normal routine to have an adventure?
Is that requisite?

Given my penchant for Self-study and Self-discovery, it occurred to me that what makes an adventure an adventure is the change in mental status. This basically comes down to attitude and presence:

Can I recognize that today will be a day unlike any other?
Can I decide to approach everything with an open mind and heart and with no judgement?
Can I, in each moment, stay present and open enough to receive the gifts of that moment?

If I am able to proclaim a resounding “Yes!” to each of these questions, then I am one step closer to seeing that everything is always already new and maybe even unusual ~ nothing will ever occur exactly this way ever again; there is ever only Now. Just this. If I can allow the day to unfold as it will, perhaps my grip on my comfort zone or my agenda will loosen and the unexpected might be accepted with curiosity, and (if I’m willing to stretch) flexibility. There’s a good chance I might learn something new about the place or the people who live or lived there.

The thing I love most about an adventure though, is the depth of the experience: to realize a profound truth, gain an insight, or to learn something about myself:

Las Vegas was fun and exciting and frenetic. Gambling is not my thing; attending shows is exhilarating. I was happy to be there until my brain felt full, then I was happy to leave.

By virtue of not having to pack more than snacks and water, the spontaneous feel of a day trips make them a favorite. How awesome to load everyone in the truck and head out to see something, anything.

On our family road trip last week, as we came around a bend and the landscape opened up into a wide valley with layered mountains with the turquoise sky above, I realized that I am, and always have been, a big sky person. My mind unspools in the presence of such vastness – it has space to breathe and whatever troubles have been weighing take flight like so many birds in migration.

It is enlightening to go on school field trips, to watch the children experience something new and participate in their enthusiasm. I am reminded to embrace the child within myself, to experience the wonder and impulse for exploration.

Even something as mundane as driving my son to school turns into an adventure: it is his imagination that turns our truck into a tie-fighter as we journey to far away planets to Jedi training school. He teaches me daily that with a little imagination, we can create a journey all our own.

 

I go where I am called. To discover this destination, I listen deep within. There, in that sacred place, the destination resides. There, the journey to Self Knowledge is already revealing itself to me.  ~ Joseph Dispenza

~ Invitation ~

How can even a trip to the grocery store be approached as an adventure?
How can everyday life be lived as the greatest adventure of all ~
the journey back to your very own self?