I’m so glad you asked!
Let’s say that an ADventure is a quest or mission you go out into, much like Frodo Baggins and his friends do in Lord of the Rings. I like adventures fine, and I’m lucky enough to have been on many in my life.
An INventure is a different kind of quest. It’s about lining up the actions you take with your own deepest truth; living in absolute integrity.
See, often we get turned about by other people: our families, our ethnic communities, our national groups, or our softball league. Any of these groups can be seen as its own culture—and one thing culture wants us all to do is to conform. Our true nature only wants us to be in peace, in alignment with those individual truths that may not be shared by anyone else on earth.
On our podcast, Bewildered, my partner Martha Beck and talk about the culture/nature divide like this. “Culture tells us to come to consensus. But our true nature tells us always to come to our senses.”
When you learn to pay attention to our senses and act accordingly, life truly becomes one wild inventure after another.
How do I start having my own inventures?
There’s an easy method to get yourself on the inventurous path. I think of it like this.
IN + INVENT + VENTURE = INVENTURE
Right now, you’re probably facing some kind of decision. It might be about what to have for lunch. It might be about what college to apply to. It might be about whether or not to leave a relationship. You can embark on an inventure in any moment. Let me show you how.
Step one: IN
Before you do anything else, go inside yourself. All the wisdom you’ve ever wished for is right there waiting for you. Find somewhere quiet, put both feet flat on the floor if possible, and focus on your breathing. Reach inward for silence. This might take some time, especially if you aren’t a regular meditator. It’s worth the wait when you realize that there is an infinite pool of peace inside you.
The silence you encounter at this point is you coming to your senses. Culture can’t reach you here. If you feel yourself sliding back into language and ideas that begin “I should,” just settle back and return to your breath.
Step two: INVENT
Now that you’ve found your way away from the clamor of culture, it’s time to bring your imagination in. When you sit with the decision you have to make, imagine the absolute best outcome. This should start with the ideal feeling state coming out of this moment.
Now, in your imagination, invent your way forward through this moment to an absolutely wonderful future moment on the other side. You feel great, and are steeped in a prevailing sense of peace.
Let the feelings and images grow as bright and detailed as you like. Dwell in the sensations and images. Keep this moment as a touchstone you can return to.
Step three: VENTURE
This is the moment where you take your inner knowing and invention on the road! This is where you take a step forward—you venture forth—and test the feeling state against the one you found inside you. Does this feel like I’m heading in the direction of peace? Am I venturing towards that ideal outcome I invented?
You will likely venture out in several different directions until you find the one that brings you into the inventure. When it happens, you’ll feel something like a little “click” inside, a sense of ease, a smoothness where before there was a feeling of static or difficulty.
When you hit that point of ease in your venture, you’ve just begun a true inventure. Now do it all over again!
Step four: WILD INVENTURES!
You know where you’re going? Right into your dream life. The more you listen inwards and invent your own life, the more you venture in its direction, the more incredible life becomes.
A word of warning, though: your dream life may well look strange to the culture (and cultures) you belong to. It can be uncomfortable at times. But as a price to pay for freedom, peace and joy, I promise you it’s worth it a thousand times over.
Stick around on the blog to learn more about me and my family working towards a life full of wild inventures!
xR
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