Adventure

I love the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Have you seen it? It's well written--so many quotes and insights into our humanity and journey. I watched it on my birthday last December and try to watch it every so often to keep the wonder and anticipation fresh in my own journey. Natalie Portman's character, Molly Mahoney, is "stuck" as a person. She knows she has so much potential, she just can't seem to break through some invisible barrier to fully express all that is in her. She moves between calling people to believe in the magic she knows to be true and resigned cynicism--that the magic works for others, but not for her.

Mr. Magorium gives her an odd gift one day--for an adventure. He says, "Unlikely adventures require unlikely tools." Mahoney asks, "Are we going on an adventure?" "My dear," replies Mr. Magorium, "we're already on one."

Yes. We are. Every moment of our lives. We just don't know it sometimes. Other times we see the option to plunge into the unknown and we back away. Back into safety, responsibility, predictability, manageable situations, plenty of margin, no risk. We've been convinced this is better. Better not to ask the risky questions of ourselves, our beliefs or others. What if we don't like the answers? Better not to dream. What if it doesn't come true? Better not to try. What if I fail? Better to believe in myself, not God. What if He doesn't come through? Better not to feel. What if I feel something I don't know how to handle? What if I don't know what to do? Adventure.

It whispers to us in movies and music. In people living lives we admire but could never see ourselves living. It's for them. We're just ordinary. The magic doesn't work for us. Right?

"The choice before us is to journey or to homestead, to live like Abraham the friend of God, or like Robinson Crusoe, the lost soul cobbling together some sort of existence with whatever he can salvage from the wreckage of the world. Crusoe was no pilgrim; he was a survivor, hunkered down for the duration. He lived in a very, very small world where he was the lead character and all else found its focus in him. Of course, to be fair, Crusoe was stranded on an island with little hope of rescue. We have been rescued, but still the choice is ours to stay in our small stories, clutching our household gods and false lovers, or to run in search of life."
-The Sacred Romance, by Curtis and Eldridge

(I highly recommend this book, by the way. The accompanying workbook has been critical to really processing my own struggles and journey. It is well worth the investment to really examine these ideas and your own journey. Take your time and give yourself a tremendous gift.)

I've been on adventures. Lots of them. I always freaked out at some point. Usually more than once. I often felt some serious regret and fear: "Take me back!! I change my mind. I don't really want to do this." We can retreat, but we can never really go back. We can settle, but we'll always be haunted by the whispers of adventure. Even though I always freak out and want to change my mind, I'm always (eventually) the better for the adventures I've had. I have backed out of a few risky opportunities. The good news is that the core challenges will almost always come back again to present themselves. The bad news is that the cost may be extremely high.

We're already on an adventure. Where are you going? Who is with you? What baggage are you carrying? These are the questions I'm asking myself these days. Cue the music and lace up your hiking boots.

I'm ready. I think.