Hello there.
Let's get comfortable.
Let's get centered.
Breathe in a big ol' breath.
And now let it go.
One more time,
Inhale.
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
I have come up with a brand new reality TV show.
It would be roughly based on The Bachelorette,
And it would feature me on a beach.
With a fruity drink in my hand,
I would watch the parade of Eligibles.
Only this time,
The contestants would be books.
Who will I choose to spend the rest of my life with?
Will it be Pride and Prejudice or The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
Well,
If you've listened to me before,
You might be able to guess my book.
It would be the Oxford English Dictionary.
Since I could never hope to read every single entry,
I would be eternally delighted and surprised.
Take the OED's entries on adventure,
For instance.
It tells me an adventure could be a chance event,
An accident,
A wonder,
A marvel,
An audacious undertaking.
To risk oneself,
To dare.
Then it even quotes all kinds of options of ways that adventure has been used.
Take Lovelick's History of the Holy Grail,
Which basically urges us,
Go where adventure will lead.
Oh gosh,
OED,
You're so dreamy.
Inhale and exhale.
I thought about the word adventure recently because I was sitting outside waiting to teach yoga in the yard at my new house.
As I sat on my mat,
I saw a cloud of dust blow down the street.
It took me a minute to realize it was a yellow cloud of pollen leaving an evergreen.
An audacious undertaking indeed.
A go as adventure will lead.
That pollen was maybe going to land on a windshield.
It might go up someone's nose.
It might land on good soil and grow into a tree.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Sometimes it seems as if we have no control,
As if we are that pollen on that tree and life will blow us as it will,
So life happens to us.
But there are all kinds of ways we can choose our own adventures.
Your adventure might be as simple as be less concerned with what others think or revel in your mess.
Fuse your joys into your life so deeply that life and joy become inseparable.
Shepherd your words.
Let them feel safe and secure as they make their way out into the world.
Jubilate your wisdom.
Lionize the grit of your own voice.
Shatter the things that keep you small.
Go deep.
But if that makes you tired,
Go easy.
Broadcast your weird and see who tunes in.
When it's dark inside or out,
Mushroom.
Get low.
Dig in and grow.
Skip the shame.
And if you can't,
At least quit feeding it bonbons.
Sculk for no one.
Sculk for no one.
Dismantle the traps you set for yourself.
And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.
Find something to swoon over.
The moon,
A child's smile,
An evergreen letting go of a cloud of pollen that will float into the world and might grow into a beautiful and mighty tree.
Ride the wild.
But hold on to that rudder so you can steer clear of those rocks.
Delight in in what is untamed inside.
Be audacious in your undertakings.
And live,
Live,
Live like y'all.
