Thoughts on the Adventurous Spirit

So many people... are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have and endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

- Alex McCandless (Into the Wild)

Inner peace is in no way a complacency or a comfort. I think our adventurous spirit comes from a desire to understand the nature of the life we play a part in more completely. It is a drive that leads us to uncover truths within us that can only be illuminated through discovery or connection with the world around us. Challenging ourselves and pushing our bodies (rock climing, hiking, yoga, cycling, etc) seem to be of the utmost importance in maintaining physical and mental health.

Conversely, our drive to be daring and to find that adrenaline rush seems to come from a lack of feeling and connecting with life. Almost like a momentary attempt to fill a void our society has evolved to ignore. Most likely this is the same void we have become so adept at covering up with the standard belief that if only we become more beautiful, more successful, we will find our ‘place’ in this world. For myself, this daring often came from a need to impress others, a search for validation or some sort of definition of my ego, when I felt that such a definition was necessary.

I think it's appropriate to return to the age-old Socratic idea of the ‘middle road’. Our adventurous spirit keeps us constantly learning about and interacting with our environment to nourish the soul, to keep us physically healthy and to teach us to live in varied conditions and situations. Yet if we go too far and pursue adventure and challenge as an ends, rather than a means towards a radiant inner peace, we will never find a lasting peace and will in all likelihood continue to live a life of constant, desperate searching.