Oh! How the definition of adventure changes with age, time and era….
As per Oxford Dictionary – it is ‘An unusual and exciting or daring experience’ (definition)…..so for my four year old it is feeding the ducks or jumping up and down in a muddy puddle. And for my thirty four year old self..well…. I am not really sure anymore…..
Remember how adventurous you felt when you walked to the corner store on your own for the first time when you were maybe nine? Or when you sneaked out of the house to meet your first love in a clandestine date at sixteen? Glancing back to those moments – I still get goosebumps.
Aging with time – the sense of adventure diminishes. Things, people, activities – everything becomes common place and regular. The chances of any event being ‘unusual’ or ‘exciting’ decreases. It seems that we loose the power of being in awe or be surprised.
Glacier climbing or sky diving….True examples of adventure? Or maybe swimming across the English channel? ….. maybe right….but I don’t believe for a single second that extreme thrill seekers are the only adventurers.
You know that girl who is walking the roads of the city looking for a job and sharing a bedsit in the women’s hostel? The one with oily greasy hair, worn sandals and sweaty upperlips? She is as much adventurous as the auburn haired girl in wetsuit…and sometimes maybe a bit more so……