[acb-hsp] FW: Denise Bissonnette's True Livelihood Newsletter

Tue Jul 31 17:46:12 EDT 2012

I love these newsletters.

Andy

From: Diversity World [mailto:info at diversityworld.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:57 AM
To: Baracco, Andrew W
Subject: Denise Bissonnette's True Livelihood Newsletter

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This newsletter is intended to support the work of people who are engaged in developing the careers, vocations, livelihoods, jobs and/or work of other individuals. It is our belief that everyone's work life can and should be molded and crafted to be the expression of our finest gifts and a source of great joy. Towards this end, we hope that the content of these newsletters will support you with both practical tools and inspirational ideas. 

Hello Andrew . 
Welcome to our July 2012 edition!
Please pass this on to interested friends and colleagues!

 Embracing The Spirit Of Adventure

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

In response to my last newsletter about making productive, conscientious use of the stories we tell ourselves and the metaphors we live by, a reader responded with this question:  “Clearly the metaphors we use shape our perceptions, and ultimately our reality.   I am a teacher working with young people whose view of the world of work is still malleable, ready to be shaped. Denise, is there a metaphor for work that you recommend we promote to these young people as they set out into their futures?”  

While this is a rather big question, I loved it because it caused me to dig deep and really examine the various metaphors we live by, comparing the merits and virtues of each and the qualities they inspire.  Obviously this is a purely subjective exercise, and the metaphors that work for each of us are largely dependent upon the personal experiences and connotations we associate with them.  Which is to say, my advice to the teacher was to help his students explore and select the metaphor that worked best for them individually.  (to see the large list of examples I provided in that article, follow this link <http://m1e.net/c?116499039-rvtjSxal.478E%407729517-uvJI7S6wFWMRA> .)

Having said that, here I sit writing an article promoting a metaphor that I would encourage everyone to embrace, confident that it could only enhance and augment anyone’s current perspective not just about work, but about life itself. I am personally drawn to the metaphor of the garden with its rich associations of planting, nurturing, cultivating, pruning – and yet cooperating with the larger miracle and mystery of nature itself.  I have also had a long-time affinity for the metaphor of “the journey”, having employed the term in the title of many of my books and courses over the last few decades.   But what trumps them both, because it is inclusive of all others, is the metaphor of adventure!  

Two responses to adventure: Ready/Willing and Reluctant/Unwilling 

It is said that there are two kinds of adventurers: those who go truly hoping to find adventure, and those who secretly pray they won’t.  For some, the word “adventure” is just a euphemism for bad planning or misguided venturing, an unnecessary detour off an otherwise straight-forward path.   From this point of view, only wayfarers, drifters, and nomads have “adventures”, and clearly only goofs or oddballs would actually seek them out.   In that world, having to choose among 32 brands of toothpaste,  55 cell phone plans, and 124 television channels is adventure enough.  But to purposely go where no one has gone before, enter new territory, experiment with something out of their ordinary experience, they say “Phooey!”   So be it. To each his own. 

I am of the mind, however, that those wishing to pursue a wholehearted, robust life greet adventure not as reluctant victims, but as eager volunteers.  We crave an occasional wildness, a jolt from normality, a sharpening of our senses, a brief excursion from our normal way of life.  Sometimes we get the urge to leave home for a time to go on retreat or set out on a pilgrimage, to remove ourselves from the duties and dramas, the roles and relationships, that keep us distracted from our emerging sense of self.  

I am not talking about reckless risk-taking that comes from a persistent and relentless need for an adrenaline rush.  I am referring to the call to adventure that stems from a hunger to be challenged in a new way, to test the boundaries of what we know, or to push the limits on our current way of being and relating with the aim of furthering our own development and realizing our own potential.  It’s a thirst for new knowledge and fresh learning. A longing for discovery, a yearning for exploration.  To paraphrase poet David Whyte, it’s that voice that tells us that the territory we are living in is too small for us.  

Regardless of your knee-jerk response to employing this metaphor to your own life and work, consider the following ten qualities that “the spirit of adventure” inspires.  Clearly, this list is far from complete, but here’s a place to start.

Nine Qualities Inspired by the Spirit of Adventure

1.       Acceptance that life itself is an inescapable series of adventures. 

One common dictionary definition of “adventurer” is “one who goes out to meet whatever may come”.  By this definition, the most common adventure is simply facing the responsibilities of everyday living, never knowing what the day may bring.  Life itself is the great unknown.  As Vincent Van Gogh observed, “I am not an adventurer by choice, but by fate.”  This is true for everyone.  Every true relationship represents an ongoing adventure in communication, patience, generosity and forgiveness.   One’s vocation is an adventure in uncovering and honing one’s talents and gifts and making one’s way in the world.  A job search is an adventure in self-discovery, exploring one’s options, presenting oneself in a favorable light, and ultimately decision-making.    In this sense, there is no escaping the various adventures that come with each age and stage of everyday living.  

From this point of view, adventure is not just a way of traveling, but a state of mind, a stance towards life.  We can choose to view life as a grand, ongoing adventure, or we can see it as a never-ending cycle of predicaments, quandaries, and dilemmas, or as my dad would say, a real pickle. By characterizing an interview gone haywire, a harrowing day of air travel, or a situation with an absurdly difficult customer as an “adventure”, we find ourselves adopting a much more productive stance than by simply experiencing it as a turn of rotten luck or further evidence of the conspiracy the world is running against us.  

2.       Perceiving challenges as “adventures”, we loosen our grip on expectations.

Rather than treating life’s various situations and predicaments as a test in which we either pass or fail, approaching life circumstances as an adventure invites the spirit of exploration and experimentation where there is no failure, just feedback.  We are open to unexpected paths that may open before us, free of the weight of expectations which more often than not set us up for distress, disappointment, and disenchantment.   By freeing ourselves of the burden of expectations, we find ourselves open to possibilities that may not otherwise have seen. Approaching situations as adventurers with a pioneering spirit, our perceptual lens is set differently.  Rather than perceiving the unknown as dangerous territory, something to be wary about, and to avoid at all costs, we approach the unknown as a welcoming frontier, begging to be explored and upon which we may plant new stakes.  

3.       A sense of adventure keeps us in the moment. 

The journey between what we are now and who are becoming is where the heart of our real adventure lies.  Any great trip we’ve experienced or accomplishment we have made points us to the wisdom of the Buddhist saying, “It is better to travel than to arrive.”  The journeying holds twice the punch of reaching the destination when we are able to remain in the present, focusing on progress rather perfection, valuing growth over the attainment of a goal.  A good adventure keeps us grounded in the here and now, not concerning ourselves with regrets from the past or worries about the future.  We are alert to our surroundings, attentive to everything around us; remaining steadfast in our powers of observation and vigilance as we strike out into the unknown.   With the spirit of adventure we are more willing to accept whatever the wind blows in, to embrace whatever the tide washes up at our feet.  The alternative, of course, is to struggle daily with the capricious nature of life itself.     

4.       The spirit of adventure moves us beyond the backyard.  

The call to adventure urges us to move beyond prevailing borders, to shift our gaze from the comfort of our own backyards to the distant, beckoning horizon.  And while I agree with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, that anything our heart’s desire can be found in our backyard, sometimes it’s necessary to run away from home before we can recognize, pursue, and find it. How can something “be truly found” without having first been lost? Or as Thoreau put it, “It is not until we are lost that we even begin to understand ourselves.”  As many seasoned travelers will attest, there is nothing that will more clearly and acutely teach us the meaning of home than the experience of being a stranger in a foreign land. 

Lest you think this is an article bestowing the virtues of travel, I am suggesting that we apply the metaphor of “being home” or “in our own backyard” in relation to other parts of our lives.  What does it mean in terms of work and the use of your skills and abilities? What constitutes “home” in relation to your primary relationships and the current borders around what and how you communicate, or how you express and extend yourself to others? What is “the backyard” of your current knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for and about the world of the arts, music, sports, popular culture, technology, and current events around the globe?    Where are you happy to “just stay home” in terms of your religious or spiritual beliefs, your political convictions, or your participation (or lack thereof) in the various communities of which you are a part?  

5.       The spirit of adventure encourages us to trust our intuition.

Ours is a culture that loves plans, instructions, remedies and directions.  But underneath all of our best-laid plans and expectations, despite all the professional and personal advice both offered and thrust upon us from everyone in this and the next area code, the next step for each of us is truly unknown and has never been taken by anyone.  Our challenge, then, is to maintain the spirit of the singular explorer within each of us.  The best step is always the freshest step…the one that is taken at the end of the little that we know… breathing new air and feeling new feelings, in reaction to no one, in wonder at what is always possible. To know how to choose a path with heart is to learn how to follow our own intuition.  Logic can tell us superficially where a path might lead to, but it cannot judge whether or not our hearts will be in it.

The call to adventure compels us to turn to our own intuitive guidance rather than rely solely on counsel and direction from outside ourselves.  Intuitively we know that the discomfort or confusion we may feel as we head towards the road as yet untaken is actually directing us to take charge of our lives and make choices that will break us out of stagnation or complacency. And, while the popular culture tells us to measure our success in terms of our personal comfort and security, our intuitive guidance encourages to measure success by how much we have learned, grown, and evolved as human beings.  

6.       The spirit of adventure summons our creative, artistic nature.  

Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure. After all, what is a work of art, a poem, or a musical composition if not an adventure of the mind, an exploration of the spirit, or an experiment of the expression of one’s heart?  Writer Paul Verlaine attests to the fact that “Every poet is a madman, lost in adventure.”  Towards the end of his life Norman Rockwell shared in an interview that the secret to so many artists living so long (like himself) is that every painting is a new adventure, keeping life new and exciting.   In the same vein, Nat King Cole once expressed that his music was the greatest adventure of his life, the pursuit of which imbued his life with purpose and meaning.  

As art leads the artist on an adventure, I believe the spirit of adventure leads us to treating life as art.  The artist within each of us is continually called to awaken and make itself known in the crafting of our lives, be it on the canvas of a day, a year, or a lifetime.  We often forget that every day is a creation – not only for us, but by us.  Viewing our ordinary activities as part of our creative lives infuses them with a different kind of power and energy.  The spirit of adventure invites us to live in accord with the beautiful assertion from Henry Miller: “To be a poet of life, though artists seldom realize it, is the summum.  To breathe out more than one breathes in.”  (The term ‘summum’ meaning summit, apex or zenith.) 

7.       The spirit of adventure encourages us to balance our need for security with the desire to take risks and expand our comfort zones.  

Did you ever notice that when we’re safe at home we wish we were having an adventure, and often, while in the midst of an adventure, we wish we were safe at home?  For though we often need to be restored to the small, the concrete, the familiar, the limited and the certain, we as often need to be reminded of the large, the vague, the unlimited and the unknown.  As human beings I think we have a clear-cut case of a love/hate relationship going on with the unknown and the vulnerability it engenders.  We seem to have an inborn need for self-preservation, for security, an emergency plan, an escape route, and a full money-back guarantee.   Then again, part of us thrives on the buoyant sensation of anticipation, surprise and possibility.  

Around every bend in life lie new opportunities, roads as yet untaken.  It is always a time of new beginnings. Why would we avoid that which we were designed to embrace?  Vulnerability reminds us that we are alive and that life is not finished. Prudence and caution makes us feel safe and secure, but they don’t make us feel particularly vibrant or alive.  As one philosopher posed, “If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being?”   

Adventure without some kind of risk is just a trip to Disneyland.  (Then again, depending on the heat, the crowds, and the conflicting desires of your children, even a trip to Disneyland holds adventure.)   Taking risks can engender fear and, for many, give rise to one’s insecurity or trepidation.  But if we give in to our fear of the unknown, then we fear life itself.  It’s what often keeps people in sorry situations. (As I once heard someone say, “While heaven might be just around the corner, we gladly stay in hell because at least we know the names of the streets.)  The adventurer within us resists such complacency, thirsting instead for the thrill of the unknown.  

8.       The spirit of adventure opens us up to the element of surprise and possibility.

We invest huge amounts of time and money going to movies and reading books for the vicarious thrill of experiencing other’s exciting adventures.  We love the sense of suspense that comes from not knowing what’s going to happen next, that being on the edge, wading knee-deep in the thrill of mystery. It’s what we look for in any story worth its salt.  

I think there is a deeper reason that we seek this sense of delicious ambiguity beyond that of mere entertainment.  With a brief look into the history of our species, isn’t it clear that we are made for the frontier, bred for the hinterland?  Pioneer blood courses through our veins.  There lives in each of us an exciting, adventurous sense of the possible, a yearning to move forward into the unknown in order to embrace life in all its fullness.  Life is to grappled and experimented with.  We were designed for struggle, for puzzlement, and for bewilderment.  We were meant to be perplexed and mystified because deep down where our wisdom lives, we know that what challenges us is also what grows us.  

9.       Adventure is the doorway to discovery and self-knowledge. 

The famous psychologist, Herbert A. Otto asserted that “Change and growth take place when a person risks himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life.  To truly be alive and growing within our own lives, we need goals and aspirations that transcend our current experience.”  We all function at a small fraction of our capacity to live life fully in its total meaning of loving, caring, creating and adventuring.  Consequently, the actualizing of our potential can become the most exciting adventure of our lifetime, requiring of course, the willingness to break camp with our present sense of self.  

In his celebrated book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell suggests that there is a pattern to classic mythological storytelling  – there is a hero/heroine who takes a journey, confronts dragons, and discovers the treasure of him/herself.  He believed, in fact, that it is only in adventure that some people succeed in finding themselves, knowing themselves, and in uncovering and owning one’s talents, abilities and powers.  What is learning, after all, if not the discovery of something that we have not yet fully understood?  Adventure is the doorway to such discovery.  The knowledge and wonder of the world, which includes the knowledge and wonder of ourselves, can better be found in the world than in the solace and comfort of our living rooms.  

In a nutshell, we are either engaged in the adventure of growth and change, or we are engaged in the process of stagnation and complacency.  As Bob Dylan crooned, “He that is not busy being born, is busy dying.”  May we each possess the spirit of adventure equal and appropriate to the call of our work and to our larger life’s journey -    

~ Denise 

© Denise Bissonnette, July 2012 (If not used for commercial purposes, this article may be reproduced, all or in part, providing it is credited to "Denise Bissonnette, Diversity World - www.diversityworld.com." If included in a newsletter or other publication, we would appreciate receiving a copy.)

Read Denise's previous (May 2012) newsletter... <http://m1e.net/c?116499039-/T5o4/O5MUWzk%407729518-BCp0Alkt0bxHU> 

________________________________

We Welcome your comments and feedback on this article!

Please consider sending us your opinions, perspectives, experiences or related resources on this topic. Unless you specify otherwise, your comments and contact information may be edited/published in a future edition of the True Livelihood Newsletter.

Email your comments on this article... TLN at diversityworld.com <mailto:TLN at diversityworld.com> 

________________________________

Thoughts to Consider/Poem of the Month

I have compiled some of my favorite quotes on adventure to create this “invocation to adventure”.  There are two versions, the second one containing the sources of each line. Enjoy! 

An Invocation to Adventure

We all stand on the edge of life,

each moment comprising the edge.

Before us is only possibility.  

The only question is this:

Can you give a hearty YES to your adventure?

Live like the river flows,

carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.  

Only by risking going too far

can we find out how far we can go.  

It is when we are not sure,

that we are most alive.   

The cave we fear to enter

holds the treasure we seek.  

You are the laboratory.

Every day is an experiment.

Go and find what is new and unexpected.  

One new perception, one fresh thought,

one act of surrender, one leap of faith,

can change your whole life.  

A single event can awaken within

a stranger totally unknown to you.

To live is to be slowly born.  

After the final no, there comes a yes.

And on that yes the future depends.

No was the night.  Yes is the present sun.  

All glory comes from daring to begin.  

Plunge boldly into the thick of life.  

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.  

Make Voyages. Attempt them.

That‘s all there is.  

Compiled by Denise Bissonnette, Diversity World, July, 2012. 

An Invocation to Adventure (with sources)

We all stand on the edge of life,

each moment comprising the edge.

Before us is only possibility.  Rollo May

The only question is this:

Can you give a hearty YES to your adventure?  Joseph Campbell

Live like the river flows,

carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.  John O’Donohue

Only by risking going too far

can we find out how far we can go.  T.S. Elliot

It is when we are not sure,

that we are most alive.   Graham Greene

The cave we fear to enter

holds the treasure we seek.  Joseph Campbell

You are the laboratory.

Every day is an experiment.

Go and find what is new and unexpected.  John Elkes

One new perception, one fresh thought,

one act of surrender, one leap of faith,

can change your whole life.  Robert Holden

A single event can awaken within

a stranger totally unknown to you.  

To live is to be slowly born.  Antoine de Saint Exupery

After the final no, there comes a yes.

And on that yes the future depends.

No was the night.  Yes is the present sun.  Wallace Stevens

All glory comes from daring to begin.  Ovid

Plunge boldly into the thick of life.  Johann Von Goethe

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.  Helen Keller

Make Voyages. Attempt them.

That‘s all there is.  Elaine Dundy

 Compiled by Denise Bissonnette, Diversity World, July, 2012.  

________________________________

Putting It Into Practice

1.  In what areas of your life do you find yourself most adventurous?  In which areas do you find yourself least adventurous?

2.  Think of times in your life when you found yourself on each end of the spectrum in terms of your response to adventure: A ready and willing volunteer and a reluctant and unwilling.   How do you think your approach to adventure affected your experience in each of these instances?

3.  Consider some of the current challenges you are facing.  Try reframing them as “adventures” and see if that alters your thoughts or feelings about those situations.

4.  What was the last great adventure you took?  What did you discover about yourself or the world as a result of that experience?

5.  What is the adventure at the heart of your current life, work or job search?

________________________________

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