The time to rethink the word "adventure"

With everything that is going on in the world right now, many people have found themselves in the quarantine alone with their thoughts. I would say that it is a very healthy practice and from time to time one should definitely do that. But to my mind, it's healthy when you do it willingly. The difference now is that you don't really have a choice, you have nowhere to escape to (apart from social media, of course). But even with options to escape to, people get bored of said options. So, here we have a situation when people stay at home and think about life.

Of course, I'm not an exception. And as a result, I was recently thinking about what I would usually call "life". Life is an adventure. Usually, it's a silver line in everything I do. Taking on difficult jobs? What an adventure! Randomly traveling somewhere in the middle of the night? That was an adventure of a lifetime! Making a day out with someone new? Sign me up! Reheating something in the microwave in the middle of the night in the house full of people? Yes, please! I literally have a blog that has this word in the title of the whole thing. So, it's time to address some adventures in which the whole world participates now.

"One hell of an adventure, huh? Staying home for several weeks.", I thought to myself. I started to feel sad, and pressured, and tied down. The extrovert inside me started panicking. And then the linguist inside me woke up and decided that it's time to address this issue of approaching the terminology.

So, according to Cambridge Dictionary, an adventure (noun, /ədˈven.tʃər/) is an unusual, exciting, and possibly dangerous activity, such as a trip or experience, or the excitement produced by such an activity. So it happens that the usual connotation (a feeling, an idea) that we instantly think about would be of getting this excitement and unusualness by moving around, traveling, seeing things, doing stuff, participating in events, going to see art, going aimlessly around, going somewhere to see something or someone. Active verbs all around the place! I feel like I'm Oprah of the active verbs now. Even writing all of that makes me energized and feeling...well, active. But if we look at the word itself, it doesn't imply any of those activities. It's just an activity. The dictionary doesn't really specify anything.

Let's take a look at what people are doing nowadays. I will boldly call it an adventure, as I hope at the end of my speech (yay, social distancing! I get to call it the speech) here you will agree with me.

Can reading a book be an adventure? It is an activity, it gives some excitement. Maybe for some, it will be quite unusual. It doesn't have to be dangerous. But can you imagine reading something like "The Theory of Human Nature" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and then (ah!) thinking back on it and making theories, and observing, and maybe even over-thinking. Oooh, what a dangerous activity it is!

Can watching films be an adventure? I truly believe it's one hell of an adventure! Films have been created (mostly) with a specific purpose. A good film is a film which gives you food for thought, raises some questions, or maybe answers them, gives a spark to your eyes. Doesn't it sound like an adventure? You live with the character, you feel with the character, and it doesn't matter if you like the character or not. Maybe if you don't like him or her, the feelings are even stronger. Exciting, isn't it? So, next time you open Netflix and watch something, think about it critically. Was it an adventure or just a thing to pass time with. And if it, indeed, was an adventure, then welcome to the gang!

Can self-education be an adventure? Oh yes, it can. It's very exciting to learn something new. Actually, it is one of the most dangerous activities here on my list. Oh, what danger it is of being enlightened, what danger it is of possibly looking at the world from a different perspective. And oh how dangerous it is for your loved ones. I can tell from my experience that it is very much dangerous. Personally, I'm interested in odd topics, which usually people don't touch upon. But then I want to talk about it, and share, and gather opinions and thoughts. And yes, my loved ones are the first to be hit by the wave of knowledge. What a journey, what an adventure!

Can making art be an adventure? I'm quite certain it is. Art is the form of pouring our soul out there somewhere. It doesn't really matter what form of art we are talking about. Painting, sketching, writing, dancing. All the things help you to transfer what you feel for it to be something physical and coherent. Writing is my form of art. And it is an adventure that I'm on right now, precisely in this moment of time. And for those who are reading it, I truly hope it is an adventure too.

The stuff happening to all of us right now is an adventure. It's a bit different from what we usually would think as one, but the truth is in linguistics! It's an adventure of self-discovery, an adventure of changing your perspectives, an adventure of trying something new and actually sticking with the things that we have started doing.

I wish all of us luck on this very adventurous path. Stay positive, stay strong, and stay safe!