Adventure is out there

2.24.17

Okay, so I didn't do 'resolutions' this year, but I did set some goals, things to work toward achieving, one step at a time.

One goal that has been uppermost in my mind is "Go on one adventure a month". Or, in the words of my friend Lexy, "Get out of your damn house and do stuff".

For me, "adventure" is defined as several things:

• doing something that is outside of my normal routine
• trying something new
• learning or achieving something that I didn't before

Now, I know, lots of things could be counted as 'adventures' under that banner. But that's sort of the point. For lots of reasons I have been fairly tentative to get out of the routine, the mundane, and the safe. (Not that all adventures are terribly unsafe, per se, but there's a sense of safety in mistakenly thinking that a good routine provides yourself with a modicum of control over what happens in one's life. See, I'm learning.) Basically, if I can imagine myself as Bilbo running after the dwarves, yelling, "I'm going on an adventure", even if it's a small thing, then it's an adventure.

(On some level I think it's a mindset thing, switching up how I approach the new and/or the unknown.)

Anyway, I can't think of anything I did in January that would qualify as an adventure, but in February (which is not over yet, mind), I've done at least three things, one of which was a fulfillment of a different goal:

1. Navigated Metro to a place I'd never been (Catholic University of America), gave a professional lightning talk, and answered questions about my poster after the talks. (This is the one that fulfills another goal, which is do at least one presentation in a professional setting and capacity.)
2. Drove to Alexandria, VA, to meet up with a friend (the aforementioned Lexy). We had initially planned to go to Mount Vernon, as I'd never been there, but parking was apparently crazy so we went to Alexandria instead. Good lesson in flexibility and spontaneity for me! And instead we got to see the Apothecary Museum, the Gadsby's Tavern Museum, and watch Alexandria's Presidents' Day parade. It was a great day, and I got over 10,000 steps! (It was also the furthest I've driven in this new vehicle, as I've stuck pretty close to home because I don't want to break down. My GPS also took me straight through DC instead of navigating around it, so I got to figure out how to drive DC roundabouts, but at least the traffic was lighter than normal.)
3. Today I went on a bike ride with my roommate! I haven't been on a bike ride in, like, twenty years, for reasons I realized while riding today. I am definitely out of shape, but that's one reason why I went biking. Also, the weather was just plain gorgeous.

I wonder what adventures March holds for me.