Anyone who has daydreamed about adventures in fantastical worlds will relate to the filk song “Rich Fantasy Lives” by Rob Balder and Tom Smith.
We’re piling up fears, but we’re out of frontiers.
Some need to escape, but there’s nowhere.
Can’t go to the Moon, at least any time soon,
But an inner-space trip costs you no fare.
Life is filled with commutes, meetings, chores, errands, and other things that feel neither exciting nor meaningful. Many of us yearn for something more. And so, we escape into worlds where the Doctor is the only one standing between the Earth and invading aliens, where two ordinary hobbits must journey through Mordor on a quest to save Middle Earth, where Ms. Marvel protects Jersey City from destructive forces.
We Can Harness This Yearning to Do Something Good
If we crave adventure, there are all sorts of ways we can try to fill that hole in hearts. Some people quit their jobs and travel around the world. Others embrace an active lifestyle, spending their evenings and weekends rock climbing, surfing or riding mountain bikes. These are fine things, but if part of your desire for adventure springs from a wish to make a difference, they may not help you toward that goal unless they are tied to charitable activities.
Here are a few ways you can pursue an adventurous life that is also meaningful:
- Devote yourself to a cause. I recently wrote a post about how important it is to think big. If you are particularly concerned about an issue, why not dedicate yourself to tackling it? Read everything you can get your hands on. If you’re able, attend conferences about your pet cause. Follow experts on social media. Ask them questions. Volunteer. Donate. Write letters to politicians. Start a blog. If you start focusing your time, energy and money on something like fighting climate change or helping the homeless, you’ll almost certainly find that your life has become more adventurous.
- Step outside your bubble. If you just want to be a tourist, you can travel all over without leaving your bubble. But if you’re willing to engage with people who aren’t like you and ideas that you’ve never considered, you can have an adventure without ever leaving home.
- Set up a personal quest. How many people can you cheer up with a smile and a friendly word over the course of the day? How many good deeds can you squeeze into one day? What if you decided you will never go through a drive-through again without paying for the person behind you and leaving a generous tip for the person who serves you? What if you did something crazy, like dressing up as a superhero and visiting children in the hospital?
- Think of ways to bring bits of your daydreams into real life in order to do good. Wish you were the Doctor? One of the Doctor’s many wonderful qualities is the way s/he relates to people as individuals. How many times have you heard the Doctor ask someone — with genuine interest — “What’s your name?” Bring that practice into your own life. Yes, this is a far cry for actually having a TARDIS and traveling anywhere in time and space, but if you emulate your heroes in whatever ways you can, you may find you’re a little more satisfied with your life.
All the personal quests in the world may not stop you from wishing you’d receive a letter from Hogwarts one day, and that’s okay. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with escaping into a fantasy world for a while through books or videos or games or daydreams. But if you’re yearning for adventure, why not see how you can use that desire to change yourself and the world for the better?
Note: I’m taking a break from the blog. The next post will be on Monday, February 18, 2019.