I love a good adventure. Especially one that begins with two little words: I wonder…
Those words have taken me into unfamiliar places, unexpected pursuits, and experiences I couldn’t have imagined before setting out.
Some adventures last an afternoon; others become loves that last a lifetime.
And wherever curiosity takes me, everything comes along.
The Art of Exploring
There’s something wonderfully liberating about thinking of our interests and pursuits as adventures.
We can follow an interest as far as it takes us, discovering along the way whether it’s something we want to continue pursuing. Sometimes we find a lasting devotion. Other times, we discover we’ve had our fill. Either way, we come away with something.
Wonder opens the door. Adventure shows us what’s on the other side.
Some time ago, Gary and I spent twelve months pursuing the idea of creating a healthy food business. We met growers, producers, and manufacturers. We imagined products, dreamed up packaging, and learned an extraordinary amount about an unfamiliar industry.
Eventually, we made a wonderful discovery: we had absolutely no desire to be in the food business.
Meanwhile, our pursuit of chocolate had led us to an enchanting town in Mexico. We fell in love with the place, bought a home, made friends, and spent the next five years returning.
We went looking for one thing and found an entirely different adventure. Who could have planned that?
Everything Comes Along
Each time we venture into something new, we bring the gifts we’ve developed in other pursuits.
Our interests may seem unrelated, yet the qualities we cultivate in one experience often find expression in another. A sense of composition developed through fashion comes alive in painting. Skills learned in business become useful in unfamiliar endeavors. Curiosity grows more resourceful with every place it takes us.
Even the experiences we choose to leave behind have something to contribute.
I like to imagine that everything we’ve learned, loved, practiced, and discovered becomes part of an ever-expanding toolbox. We carry it with us, often unaware of how useful its contents may become.
We never begin again from the beginning. And yet, we can always begin something new.
We can approach an unfamiliar pursuit with a beginner’s curiosity and a lifetime of experience. We can wonder about something we’ve never done and discover how much of ourselves is already available to do it.
I find that an exhilarating way to live.
There’s always something else to wonder about, another possibility to explore, another expression of ourselves waiting to be discovered.
Every adventure gives us more of ourselves to bring to the next one.