Spirit of Adventure

May 28, 2019

Today I found the spirit of adventure. I’m not sure if that was because it wasn’t 9 in the morning, or I was just feeling extra fueled from lunch, but I had a go-go-go attitude, just wanting to find new things. I chose the path to the North, walked down and back up the little valley, and saw a tree that had fallen across the river, creating a sort of bridge. I thought that on top of the log would be a great place to sit and settle, being able to view an extended length of the river in both directions. But as I said, I had the spirit of adventure, and so I eventually walked—or shimmied more like—across the rest of the log onto the other side of the river (barely avoiding death as the moss on the tree was slippery). Now, this was my first time across the river; I wasn’t really sure what I would find there. I saw the tall stone wall, and naturally I tried to climb it. However this didn’t really pan out as the rocks were not very stable and the moss clumps slid right off. But, looking to my right I saw another tree that had fallen, this time from up top the wall down to the ground on which I was standing.
So what did I do? I climbed it of course. I again had visions of death, falling and breaking both legs, the gang never finding me, as this tree was more decomposed and really not very sturdy. Anyways, I made it of course and felt proud when I stood at the top of the wall viewing the rest of the forest. I saw a clearing a few meters beyond and I went to check it out, curious as to what was out there. Realizing it was the cemetery, I was a little disappointed that I came all this way to be stopped here. So, I sat down on a log and pondered my journey.
I really enjoyed exploring and treacherously finding my way across the river and wall. However, what I did not want to do was re-scale the wall and the logs to get back down. A few thoughts went through my head… (1) I could walk out through the cemetery and mosey along down Enright Avenue, probably showing back up again in like an hour… (2) I could suck it up and climb back down the wall and the trees and the river… and (3) I could just give up and stay sitting on my little log forever, leading a simple life and letting the forest critters decompose my body. Of course, I ended up doing the 2nd option, but the 3rd option got me thinking.
I feel that as individuals and as a society, we can get overly ambitious. Sometimes we do things without thinking, just because we want to do that thing at that very moment. But what we don’t necessarily realize is that there is always a consequence—cause and effect—before and after. While my situation really wasn’t that dramatic or consequential, there are many actions that we take that are—that really cause drastic consequences. I think that we need to do a better job of thinking ahead—do a better job of looking beyond our person in any given moment of time… see the consequence, see the effect, see the after… and let that guide our actions.

Lauren Geiser