The Magical World

Image from Mynt Condition

Sometimes I think that I am caught in the middle of a mindless dance. Wake up. Go to work. Come home. Eat. Work. Sleep. Repeat. Often after two or three days of this in a row,  I step back and have to ask how on earth I have managed to wonder aimlessly through a few days. Maybe it is that I do not think much of this routine has great significance. How is it that we go throughout our lives and find it lacking? Why do you think men have mid-life crises?

For Christmas last year, Laura got me The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. I had read a fair amount of the beloved comic strip before, so I was thrilled when I received it and started reading a few strips a night. In the middle of a busy and stressful school semester, it was so refreshing to have that waiting at my bedside every night. While it is a comic strip and has some hysterical moments, it really made me think about the adventure that is there in everyday life. Looking at the world through the eyes of an imaginative eight-year-old brings back memories of tying blankets around your neck and jumping off the porch, pretending that you were Superman and you could reach the moon if you wanted too. There were the times that my best friend and I were Ninja Turtles, saving our houses from immanent doom. Or even practicing the winning shot that I hoped I would score in a championship basketball game one day.

But then one day we were too old to find adventure in the mundane. Suddenly we thought it foolish to waste times in such silly games. Adventure came in building bike ramps, riding a four wheeler up a mountain, or daring to ride your bike down dog-infested streets. Junior high, high school, college, all of these brought about new adventures, from road trips to hide and seek, football games to school dances.

Somehow adulthood seems like it can be completely devoid of adventure. Instead of showing up around every corner, it is the Cheshire Cat, popping up here and there, just out of our reach until we give up pursuit. But when I stop to look at it, I think that adventure is still there. I found it tonight in wondering the halls of the church with my wife, singing at the top of our lungs while having contests jumping off the stairs. It doesn't look the same as adventure when I was 10 or even 20, but it is my adventure nonetheless. And in embracing that, I think that life is again infinitely exciting. No longer is the humdrum of work and routine my only option. Now I can dream big. It may take work to find your adventure. Maybe it will take some active searching, spending time with friends in the great outdoors or with your wife on a road trip to nowhere. But when we take time to look, I'm sure that we will find it.

"It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!"