FINDING ADVENTURE – Even Amidst Covid-19 – Is it possible?
My heart goes out to all these people suffering, or who have lost people around the globe due to the COVID virus. So much pain and suffering….none of that seems adventurous.
I also identify with expats, TCKs, global nomads, diplomats, Embassy staffers, study abroad students, workawayers, housesitters and home-owners displaced around the globe. Hundreds of thousands of people have been misplaced and are facing the re-entry process of returning home at some time in the future.
Currently we are “misplaced in Mexico”, after being in the housesitting lane for the last eleven months. Rather than repatriating we chose to stay shelter-in-place and observe the Covid-19 situation from here in San Miguel de Allende.
We should have been back in our home base in Denver by now; however, the virus, authorities and the greater Universe had other ideas in mind. It was time to change our mindset – yet again.
Not long after we arrived into this new and foreign situation called Covid, the following quote came to my attention and I have been chewing on it ever since.
“Too much mystery is merely an annoyance. Too much adventure is exhausting. And a little terror goes a long way.”
―Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas
One of the boxes that housesitting checks is a sense of adventure. Yes – it’s like a siren.
But what if adventure itself could be a coping skill or a lens to look at life through – what would that be like.
Back in September 2017, I set myself the task of identifying and documenting an adventure every single day for one entire month.There were days when it was fun, there were days when in was torture, and there were days when it was simply hard going.
Adventures it turns out can be exploits, incidents, experiences, escapades or feats.
My personal goal was to show myself how I could create a more adventurous life just by paying attention to my current life. And, what if in the process of playing this game my life became more interesting and actually adventurous?
Bold escapades are not the only criteria by which we can notice adventure.
A national dish that you have never eaten before can be adventurous, finding a great big colorful bug (as I did last week) can be an adventurous moment, visiting an ancient pyramid can be adventurous, but so can wearing new hiking boots!
The following is a list of characteristics I found that helped me identify the novel, the different and the adventurous.
Adventures are unpredictable.
They come in all sizes, from tiny whimsical moments to gigantic disasters and everything in between.
They can demand a willingness to step onto a path you may never have taken before.
While adventures can be planned, they can occur spontaneously
Adventures land in different categories: physical, emotional, spiritual or cultural
Noticing and paying attention, even looking for adventures requires some grace, thoughtfulness and guts. Sometimes it’s a game of hide and seek.
Adventures occur in the oddest places, sometimes on the page, sometimes in a conversation and frequently outdoors in nature: stay alert and awake.
Adventures require thinking or processing afterwards to gain the maximum value from them.
After thirty days of recording small to large adventures, I discovered that the word adventure is a label that I can choose to use even though my “adventure” maybe someone else’s regular day.
And, yes, some days “Too much adventure is exhausting”.
How much adventure do you seek?
Are you identifying adventures when they happen?
Are you reflecting back on your adventures?
Wherever you are on your own unique adventure scale, may you find the breath and the joy that lives in the moment.
Housesitting is perhaps a bit stalled, but I truly believe that it will emerge as the enchanting lifestyle that it truly is.
Finding the adventure frequently means finding the breath or the joy in an experience. Wherever you are, I invite you to look at life through adventurous eyes in order that you can discover and enjoy more meaning.
Even mid-Covid, may you keep maintain a mindset of compassion and adventure.
Let’s stay tuned to how much adventure we can create going forward.