The Alchemy of Adventure

The next step for the global adventure community is to embody a much better. . . “why?”

Seeking a better. . . why?

Photo: Ken Wylie

One of the most profound universal realizations of adventure is that we always have a choice between engaging faint-heartedness (fear) or courage. This is the prime potential alchemy of adventure, to move through impulsive behaviour an choose and elevated response. This act consistently provides for our safety and experience of flow (which we have come to be addicted). One of the practices of adventure is to consistently put fear in its rightful place as a focus provider, so we can effectively climb ice or rock or stand our ground with a charging bear. Without managing our fear impulse, these situations would run amok. Although we practice managing fear, we have yet to apply it intentionally, along with other similar elevating processes, to give adventure the powerful educational purpose, and support it deserves. Could this become our. . . why?

The opportunity we have is to un-hobble adventure so we can access its true potential in our society by going beyond believing it is only a technical pursuit, and access its power to elevate and transform people through the practice of alchemy.

Photo: Pelig Levi

The challenges humanity faces on the planet are the grand adventure and, we all need a better. . . “why?” The risk management failures of our governments, institutions, industries, educational systems, and individuals all point to an absence of inner work and a failure to draw out the best values from ourselves, not only physically, but intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. We have forgotten what life, and adventure are about. We have forgotten that WE are here to grow, rather than our collection of adventure events, or our financial wealth and economies. The first step in the process is to have a meditation practice as a precursor to impulse control. In this way we cultivate the observer of our thoughts. This is akin to being able to remain an observer while watching a movie, so we remain objective.

The opportunity we have before us is to elevate adventure to the status of DOJO. A place where the pursuit of a personal practice of development is the thing. Where within the context of authentic potential negative consequence, we practice elevating from reactionary shadow power impulses like, denial, faint-heartedness, and hubris, to craft luminant power responses with tempered acceptance, courage and grace. (And there are more. See the model below) This is the universal Human Journey of which nearly all human traditions aspire, and it is a fantastic model for managing the greatest hazard facing us in the context of adventure, and our situation in our global society, and that is ourselves.   

Archetypal Model for Values Based Decision Making & Human Hazard Management.

The tension between shadow impulse and a luminant response is the sweet spot. This is where we find flow.

© Archetypal

The journey of elevating from shadow impulse to luminant response is not an easy one. One must have the willingness to recognize the worst potentials of humanity in ourself in order to make any headway. Few people intentionally embark upon this kind of human journey because it is perilous. We consistently look the other way or pretend that these issues are some other person’s stuff. This is the fundamental denial which we must elevate to a place of tempered acceptance because there is no escape from this journey. if we avoid it, it finds us through profound consequence, as a more pain-filled invitation. I have lived both sides of this. I have lived the avoidance and the alchemical journey . I forged tragic adventure events into valuable tools and now am compelled to invite others to join the process. This practice has shaped me into the man I have always dreamed of being. And yes I still fail, nearly every day, but know that it is all part of the process.

The intentional alchemical journey is the one with value.

Photo:Pelig Levi

I am not sure that as a society we have any other choice at this time in history, but to do the same. This is the macro adventure that poses the question, what will we do WITH this situation? Like any adventure, we have to recognize that how we engage is primary hazard to manage. By elevating our impulses we change to a response, by changing to a well crafted response, we change who we are. Only by changing who we are, will we change the society we live in. This practice, is the place and purpose for adventure. And like any adventure the hardest part is identifying the real important hazard is almost always us.

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