Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Adventuring


What is an adventure? Merriam-Webster online says this:
Main Entry: 1ad·ven·ture
Pronunciation: \əd-ˈven-chər\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English aventure, chance, risk, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin*adventura, from Latin adventus, past participle of advenire to arrive, from ad- + venire to come — more at come
Date: 14th century

1 a : an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks b : the encountering of risks 2 : an exciting or remarkable experience 3 : an enterprise involving financial risk


I don't really like any of these definitons because they suggest that an adventure must be, in some sense, extreme. I do not believe that all adventures must be extreme or exciting or remarkable or involve risk. I believe that adventuring should be an every day (or every other day) event!

I go on adventures every day. Often, they are small - I will adventure into a new area of the interwebs and get "lost", I will adventure by taking a different route to get somewhere I often visit (like the UCA), I adventure in my practice a lot by sight reading. Point being, anything can be an adventure if you make it one. I have been known to ask my friends what kind of adventure they had today, or will have to day, or suggest that we go adventuring somewhere sometime. The first time this happens they are often confused as to what I mean because they don't understand that an everyday event can be made into an adventure.

Today I will adventure into a fantasy world with children (playing DND, I'm the DM, see this post) and I am quite excited. They will be ambushed by a bone devil and several small demons, it will be quite an adventure.

I am looking quite forward to the summer when I can take walk adventures with my friends late at night and it will still be nice to be outside.

If you feel like it, tell me about your favorite small adventure!