Adventure: The Next Graven Image?

There’s something about adventure. Whether it’s summiting mountains, hiking in the woods, or kayaking open water, there’s something about leaving the confines of the city, getting out in nature, and leaving your worries (and cell phone service) behind. I leave the grid and the pressure begins to dissipate. There’s nothing to check, no social media to track, and no looming to do lists.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve learned that your heart craves adventure. It’s not just for having a beautiful Instagram feed or wanting to be “outdoorsy.” There’s something within my heart where I need fresh challenge, the feeling of being free, and knowing I can physically conquer something. I feel that deep within our being it is something we are created for.

But have we taken it too far?

Maybe you’ve found yourself here. It’s a Wednesday and you’re sitting at your desk. It’s past lunch and your coffee mug is on it’s fourth refill of the day. You love your job, but the hours are long, and you’re not feeling awesome about it. If you were honest, you would leave the job, the cube, and the steady paycheck, trading it for less money and spending your off days traveling, meeting new people, and capturing it along the way. That sounds like a dream. You get a text from a friend. This friend is always thinking of the next escape from the city and has great plans every weekend. For the past month you’ve had to say “no.” You’ve had to move, save a bit of money, and get caught up on things. But this weekend you can go. Your heart is ecstatic. It’s now Wednesday and you can’t wait for the weekend. The edge of the post-lunch lull  has finally left you. You get work done quickly and efficiently. You tell all of your co-workers of your great weekend plans. You search Instagram for recommendations and charge your cameras. Unpacking the boxes of outdoor gear in the top of your closet, you pull out your perfect outdoors luxury brands and begin to fill your pack. Your heart is alive again and you haven’t met the smell of the evergreen yet. Your weekend is awesome. You have a great time with friends, have some good stories to tell, and find your iPhone full of beautiful pictures to edit. You return to the city with a full heart. Monday comes around again. Life is boring, a Ground Hog day of sorts. Meetings, coffee, more meetings, more coffee. All you can think about is the weekend.

As much as I would love to think that the above story is one that we rarely experience, I would argue that most of us live, breathe, and crave adventure. With the wind running through my hair, new scents and sounds around every corner, and friends to do it with, I love when my weekends are filled with exploring and travel. But has it become more?

I used to be the girl that would go on adventures. I lived for them. It was a super busy season of my life and I knew I needed to get away and decompress. My two friends and I would leave the city and head outside. Backpacking, camping, white water rafting, or trail running were our methods of choice. You name it, we would probably do it. When we didn’t go on adventures, you could tell. We would get angry, were bored easily, and we desperately craved a break. More than anything, we struggled to connect ourselves. We had to have an adventure per month. Or else.

Adventure is great, don’t get me wrong. I have some scheduled this month to go snowshoeing and couldn’t be more excited. It has it’s place. I even moved to the mountains where I could go on hikes and adventures year-round because I love it so much. But have we taken it too far?

Is the idea of adventure something we hold too sacred? An idol of sorts, where we can only find contentment when our life looks far from the ordinary. A place where solace in ordinary and simple moments of our days no longer works. The place where our Instagram accounts must look like hipster Barbie or Lonely Planet to be satisfied. We’ve even coined it with cute phrases such as “Wanderlust,” branding basic tees with our lack of contentment.

Here’s the tension.

I want to be the person who can be content in any situation. With little or with much, found at my (messy) desk, in my crowded lecture hall, or on the Pacific Coast. I want to love and celebrate the everyday adventures in life, embracing those around me, in the woods or in the confines of my home. I want to enjoy doing mountain climbers as much as I enjoy climbing mountains. I want to live according to the freedom and victory I know I have, rather than waiting for the next physical challenge to feel that way. I want to find beauty in the eyes of a stranger and to find it in the wild meadow. I want to love the blue skies above me, whether in India or sitting in a house on Indiana Avenue. I want to learn to be still and to disconnect without having to fall off the grid to do so. May we embrace the contentment that living life brings. Yes, it may be a crazy one, full of good days and bad, of literal mountain tops, frolicking in the forest, and dodging carts at the Trader Joe’s. Because even the simplest moments are often the most beautiful. As Peter Pan told us, “To live is truly an adventure.”

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you! Let me know in the thoughts below.

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