Mr. Adventure has lit a spark inside of me that lay dormant for years. Home now is only a launch pad with which to plan my next adventure.
As I begin courting adventure, I think I’ve found the perfect foil. I will call him Mr. Adventure in order to protect his privacy. Right now, he is in Germany heading down the Danube River. After this week, he’s off to Egypt for three weeks and then East Africa to visit an orphanage he helped start. He’s a photographer. But that’s only one facet of his personality. He’s sort of a Renaissance man — a physicist, scholar, pilot, writer, world-traveler and supreme athlete. The years have not slowed him, only made him wiser and more discerning. There is a bright light hiding behind that weathered, sinewy man that stands with his arms crossed squinting behind his bi-focals looking upon the horizon. Looks are deceiving I’ve learned. I am, after all, the queen of disguises. I thought I was someone I wasn’t – a loner who lacked courage – one who could not protect herself in this sometimes ugly world. I was buried under this false narrative since I was a kid. It changed the trajectory of my life. Because of the lies I told myself and the mask I hid behind, I was not truly living life to the fullest – to my full potential. One day, I went on an adventure of my own and discovered the real me. Low and behold, I was, and am, the anthesis. I kinda knew this. Who after all jumps off a 40′ cliff into the Colorado River at fourteen or sings in front of the PTA at ten-years old let alone starts her own real estate company if she’s this scaredy cat or a loner? That is why I always felt discord or anxiety deep down. The real me and this person I was pretending to be were both vying for the seat of my soul – for my sovereignty. I was in a full-blown identity crisis for many years. And that is why Mr. Adventure so appeals to me. He’s able to hold up a mirror per se and show me who I really am – Miss Adventure.
We all get stuck at times, even trapped, under the labels and stories we are told and tell ourselves over the years. The more we replay them, the more they get reinforced. When you realize that it’s the containment of these false narratives that are the problem, the real you can emerge to shake hands with a brighter future. The adventure I went on to find Diane led to some dramatic life changes. The wind was suddenly at my back.
But I digress….
Apparently, Mr. Adventure has had his sights set on me for some time but I was oblivious — too buried with work to notice.
He’s already promised to take me kite-surfing and teach me how to play racquetball when he returns from his travels in several weeks. I didn’t dissuade him from thinking I was completely onboard despite the fact that neither of those activities were exactly my ‘cup of tea.’ I much prefer paddle boarding or kayaking. Even horseback riding. Nor did I tell him that I cover up head-to-toe in SPF clothing to protect my translucent skin. I look like a dummy which mind you translates to ‘weirdo.’ Despite all of this, my motto for the time being is to not overthink things!
I actually think the five weeks that he will be gone is a blessing. It will give me time to create plenty of content for my blog. I also need time to handle some more personal matters. After having acrylic nails for years, I took them off. I’m trying to live chemically free which includes eating only organics. That is with the exception of my dark chocolate and well, my blond highlights. My nails are an absolute mess. They split, tear and peel. They are thin like my skin. I’m embarrassed to be seen with them. Then there are my eyebrows. For the first time, I had a professional thread them. They are pencil thin. Yuck. I prefer my thick and sometimes uneven brows. The things we girls worry about!
Mr. Adventure, watch out! You won’t be the only one re-opening their borders to become a heavyweight, international traveler.