Over the years, I've experimented a lot with finding ways to explore our days from new and noteworthy perspectives. My aim, as always, is to start right here, where we are right now -- our to-do lists, our everyday issues and routine activities. But no matter where I start, I always seem to arrive at the idea of adventure. I can't help it. When I look at daily living, even the most mundane parts, I almost always see adventure.
Now, I'm not talking about fun-and-games adventures. No, I mean the kind of adventures that require courage and perseverance, where success is not guaranteed, where you -- the intrepid* adventurer -- will almost certainly stumble along the way, but you'll also grow in strength and skill in ways you might not have previously thought possible.
Lately, more than ever before, I've taken to telling myself, when yet another daunting challenge presents itself, like planning for the weeks and months ahead, reaching out to new people with new ideas, or returning to activities after long absences, "Well, I'm sure it will be an adventure!" It always gives me a little boost of courage and helps me focus on each step forward and not feel quite so invested in the outcome.
I see a lot of potential for some exciting, perspective-changing journaling in this approach, so I set out to create a set of journal pages that explores our days from a variety of big picture perspectives. Another adventure!
First came the titles for the pages, as exuberant as I could imagine them.
Next, I dove into the nuts and bolts of our daily adventures with the goal of capturing the memorable, momentous, perspective-bending aspects.
The final result is a set that I hope will encourage you to see yourself and your days from surprising perspectives -- as an adventurer, explorer, thrill seeker, storyteller, risk taker; you know, the stuff that reminds you to go out there into your days with courage and confidence and make them count.
I hope these pages inspire you to turn your experiences into memories you can look back on for years to come, including:
the adventures that inspire you to grow in new and unexpected ways,
the exploits that bring out the very best in you,
the shenanigans that make your days interesting and unique,
the bloopers that move you forward,
the escapades that bring you joy, and
the encounters that connect you to the people and places in your world.
You'll find this set right here in my shop.
In the meantime, if you're up for a chat, tell me about one of your adventures that requires courage and perseverance in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you and can't wait to cheer you on!
*I've always had a vague idea of what the word intrepid means. Brave, strong, determined, laughs in the face of adversity -- that sort of thing. I decided to look it up, just to be sure. I find I'm doing that a lot lately, making sure I know the precise meaning of the words that have snuck** into my vocabulary. According to the folks at Merriam-Webster, intrepid is "characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance." I like that fearlessness is preceded by resolve in the definition. In my own adventures, I would say that I'm almost never fearless, but in order to move forward, I have to resolve to act as if I am. How about you?
**The spell checker is trying to tell me that snuck isn't a word, but I looked it up too and it's fine
