Adventure Question #1

While cleaning out my entryway, I sorted through a large cardboard box which contained a wide variety of papers. I threw away information and check stubs from my temping gigs of more than three years ago, filed some other items, and set aside a pull-out "Something to Think About" page from an Oprah magazine.

The questions are about Adventure, and I'm finding them interesting. . .

1. What's your definition of adventure? Is it mainly about physical risk? Emotional excitement? Mental challenge? Inner exploration? Travel?

I had to ponder that for a while, sorting out the nuances of various answers. Finally I've decided that, for me, adventure is about going outside my usual boundaries -- something which usually triggers a sense of risk. But it's not the risk that makes me think 'adventure' it's the sense of going beyond.

Another element is that to be an adventure, it has to be embraced. Whether or not it is embarked on intentionally, if it is embraced, it can be an adventure. Otherwise, it's just an ordeal.

Because of my lifestyle, my adventures usually involve travel -- or at least going somewhere new, even if I never leave my city. Inner exploration and mental challenge are fun and stimulating, but they are part of my everyday life, so I don't consider them adventures most of the time. Pushing my entire self outside of my usual territory is a big deal for me, and it doesn't happen often.

Starting graduate school is exciting, but not an adventure. "School" is safe, familiar territory for me. Going with [name withheld] to fetish night at a local club -- including needing to borrow clothes from her closet because I didn't have anything appropriate to wear -- was an adventure. Going to Marco Island last week was an adventure because it took me outside of what I'm used to on all kinds of levels. If I do it again, it will simply be a vacation, however wonderful -- although I might find ways to have adventures while there.

Adventure Question #2

On a scale of 1 (housebound) to 10 (Indiana Jones), how adventurous are you? If you'd like to be more (or less) adventurous, why?

Ummm. . . a 2?
On a good day?

I need a lot of motivation -- either someone strongly urging/inviting or an exceptionally strong inner motivation -- to get out of my rut.

I get nervous even driving to parts of town I'm not familiar with. (Have I mentioned that I have a weirdly intense fear of being lost?)

Once I'm motivated, I can do things like spend three days in a tent in a canyon on a spiritual retreat, or take the train to Disneyland, or etc. Once I'm in motion, I can do pretty well. It's overcoming inertia that's the problem.

Adventure Question #3 - Heroes

Who were your childhood adventure heroes? What did you admire (or envy) most about them?

Two names leap to mind and overshadow everyone else: Dorothy Gale and Princess Leia.

( Dorothy )

Looking back now, I think that the other thing I envied about her was that she didn't have to initiate her adventure herself. The tornado (and later the storm, the magical road, or etc.) did that for her. Once she was in the adventure, she did the best she could. It was only late in the series that she struck out on adventures herself.

When I started writing my own adventure story, making myself the main character, I did the same thing: having an outside force propel me into adventure.

( Leia )

I still fall far short of her courage, determination, and initiative.

The third person was Richard Halliburton, author of The Complete Book of Marvels and other tales of real-life adventures. Halliburton traveled all over the world doing things like throwing himself into sacrificial wells in South America, swimming through the Panama Canal, flying a biplane through the Middle East, spending the night on the grounds of the Taj Mahal, and etc. And then he wrote about his experiences in an engaging manner designed to inspire kids to see all these wonderful things themselves -- or at least to study and learn more about them. (He also wrote about the history, myths, and legends of these incredible places, so young readers understood what was special about them beyond his specific adventure there.) This was a man who embraced adventure and wanted to bring everyone else along for the ride.

Adventure Question #4

. . . is going to have to wait.

Because I don't know the answer yet.

Who are your adventure heroes now? is how it begins.

Do I have adventure heroes now?

Really truly heroes, rather than just characters I like?

I'm going to have to think about this one.

Cinderellas R Us

The Daughter and I just cleaned the kitchen floor the old fashioned way: on our knees with scrub brushes and cloths, Spic-n-Span, and a basin of rinse water I emptied again and again and again. . .

And damned if it didn't feel good!

We also did the entry section, but had to do it quick with a mop because the plumbers showed up to fix the upstairs shower and there we were told they would need to shut off the water.

But the kitchen floor looks 1000% better!

Next: off to the grocery store!

Balance!

Via the only slightly less well-balanced rhonan

Ying Yang Congratulations! You scored -1!

You are a paradigm of balance between your Masculine and Feminine sides, which is what most people strive to be. Most of your aspects - tastes, habits, and style - reflect a certain equilibrium that makes you who you are. You can get along with a variety of personalities without totally clashing, because you understand and appreciate a little of both sides. It is what makes you who you are.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on genderpoints

Link: The Masculine/Feminine Test written by LittleIrishGirl on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Adventure Question #4 - Answered

Who are your adventure heroes now? What is it about these people or their lives that you admire? How could you develop those qualities in yourself or add those elements to your life?

What was interesting in pondering this question today was how relatively few of my favorite heroes and heroines are "adventure" heroes. Courage is a given, but many of them are more on the idealistic-dedicated side than the sheer joy-of-adventure attitude that I took as the basis for this question.

So here is my list:

1. The ladies of the 1800's who abandoned English respectability for a life of adventure in the Middle East. Jane Digby, Gertrude Bell, and others became fluent in Arabic, lived among the native peoples, and traveled throughout the region. Jane Digby, who left behind a husband and family in England, ended up married to a sheik and living to a ripe old age riding Arabian horses every day.

What I admire about them is their courage in stepping beyond the proscribed boundaries of their home societies and living life on their own terms, not worrying about social sanctions or even physical danger.

2. The crews of the Enterprise, boldly going where no one has gone before. In both the original Star Trek and The Next Generation we see people committed to exploration, to understanding the new and the -- to their eyes -- strange, who consider the joys of discovery well worth risking their lives. Signing on to a starship is committing to life of adventure.

I admire their courage, their willingness to leap into the unknown ready to meet whatever comes their way.

3. Peter Jackson, because I consider the making of the Lord of the Rings movies a great adventure. He dared to take his vision all the way, bringing together what became a small nation and holding it together for years, against all obstacles, to create an unprecedented cinematic achievement. I find the behind-the-scenes features of the films at least as riveting as the adventure onscreen. As some of you may remember from the years of the LOTR releases, I have said that I would kill to go back in time and take Jackson's place.

I admire his dedication and courage, his commitment to his vision, and his ability to combine the myriad details of artistry, technology, and sheer survival into three truly wonderful movies.

4. Lady Erica Rosselin-Kiel, a character I created for a space adventure RPG. She is extremely beautiful, extremely wealthy (maximum level for both advantages), and utterly fearless. In fact, she's a thrill-seeker, a bit of an exhibitionist, and has zero concern for convention. She has put a lot of effort into developing a strong, flexible body which enables her to engage in all kinds of physical activities and adventures, from dancing, to adventuring, to erotic theme and variation.

Lady Erica is one version of my shadow self: she takes many of the desires I suppress and engages in them with zest. Again there is a lack of concern for how society might judge her, and little or no fear of risk or consequences. She sees all of life as a grand adventure, and she'll never have enough time to enjoy it all.