Be Curious in the Path of Adventure

Who we are, what we do, and where we find ourselves; matters.

🎵 Song recommendation whilst reading: Garland - Dirty Heads

To be curious is to be free. Who do we want to be, what do we want to do, where do we want to do it - the simplicity of questioning these thoughts comes naturally to the individual. Sometimes we are aware of these thoughts, and sometimes they pass us by. For me, more recently, I constantly try to be curious in the path of adventure.

Where to start this entry is not easy to navigate. I want to explore this subject beyond the words that will stumble upon this page. However, I will make do with the space we have available to captivate you as the reader. I have recently returned from Costa Rica, where I was on a two-month volunteering adventure exploring the beauty that this country and its people had to offer. Without being annoying, I feel and know that I have left that country a changed person. I was curious in the path of adventure and the adventure has rewarded me...to a large extent at least.

"On the other end of the spectrum, some struggle to come to grips with where their life is at that moment, worried about where it is headed or uncomfortable not knowing where that might be."

I went searching for answers in life, at the age of 24. This is an age where a lot of introspection can take place, tending for some to either have a positive perspective on where their life is heading or where they are wanting it to head. On the other end of the spectrum, some struggle to come to grips with where their life is at that moment, worried about where it is headed or uncomfortable not knowing where that might be. Life is what you make of it, come the hard times and the good times; it is entirely up to you how you tackle it. No one can take that away from you. You have to be curious in order to set yourself free from the torment of the unforgiving self.

So what exactly were the answers I was trying to look for in life when I first undertook my 2022 adventure? The truth is, I already knew that there wouldn't be a specific answer to my thoughts. There may be lessons learned, experiences taken away that may benefit your own destiny, but you will never have it perfected. Instead, the introspection and self-growth that was to occur would only open up one's eyes to what really matters; living a life full of curiosity and getting caught up in the constant search for adventure.

You matter. Life can be short but it can also be long, so how do we make sense of how we should be living it? We live in the age of a tumultuous global society, one that is rocked by climate change, digital technology, inequality, war, power, and discrimination. However, in the crevices, we also experience a world that perpetuates beauty, compassion, healing, and togetherness. I bring this to your attention because it is what inspired my year of travel; that life can be short, which the pandemic so evidently suggested. So, why not try and live it for however long that may be? With a curiosity for adventure at the heart of it.

Society is drawn into the calamity of balancing life and work, day after day, week after week, month after month, until it becomes a cycle of trying to balance work with a little bit of life; the crudeness of a capitalistic world. A way of living that wraps itself around our mental health, taking on the various struggles that life can monotonously throw at you if you are not careful. I may be a 24-year-old who writes from a privileged position whilst trying to impose his perspectives about life, but I accept that I am not perfect and that at least I am trying to make sense of it all. Life is there to be lived even when we may not know much about it.

I sold my car. I am aware that most people in South Africa would not be able to or are not willing to sell their car and use that money and the money that they had potentially saved to try and see more of the world whilst they still could. To work where they could along the way to further fund the travel encompassing the adventure, to meet and interact with humans from all over the planet, to experience various cultures; essentially to gain greater life experiences for self-growth. Yes, it may have financial repercussions down the line, but who would be able to tell me with 100% certainty that it won't be worth it? That is the risk involved. This is what I did; what I continue to do.

It led me to be curious, constantly, in the path of adventure. To risk it all to live instead of being content with what I knew. If I make one person change their perspective on where they are in their life right now, realising that the idea of constant fulfilment is idealistic insofar as we are all human, life is not perfect, you are not alone - then I will be happy. However, I'd be more ecstatic if there were greater awareness surrounding the curiosity of living for the self. We all owe it to ourselves to start or continue to walk in the crevices of Earth's beauty, to be positively curious in a chaotic world, so that these crevices can form an opening that is compassionate and bountiful for all to see, equally.