Dear Mother, Gravity is still working

What are the chances of running into someone you know in the grocery store? In my area, they are about 1 in 228,600.

And yet I rarely throw my arms around someone and pound them on the back with glee. How could that be?

Well, our brains like to normalize things. The brain finds keeping track of the grocery list, watching the time because you have to make it home otherwise the guy won’t leave the brake pads you ordered online, and remembering that you forgot to water the plants in the backyard much more important than noticing that you just ran into Crystal in the produce aisle.

Meanwhile, we are all walking around inside a statistically improbable event—living right now on the planet, in the same town, buying apples.

Think about that for a minute.

That will boggle the mind.

And zoom—the grocery list goes right out of your head.

This month in the Linn Academy, we are considering the Embarking on an Adventure card from the Gateway Oracle Deck. The card offers a balloon ride with a view of foreign places and enticing photo ops.

Remember how, in so many fairy tales, the young hero goes out into the world to find their fortune? And adventure ensues, and they are forever changed.

How often do you think of adventure as a plane ticket? A magical doorway through the back of a wardrobe? A chance encounter with a tall, dark, mysterious—not creepy—single stranger who is definitely single and interested in you?

How do you know you are having an adventure?

Maybe you are doing something new. Maybe you don’t know or expect a certain outcome. Maybe you are holding your breath and praying that you aren’t going to have to explain this to your partner, your doctor, or your mother.

Is that what an adventure is?

But what if you didn’t have to turn your life inside out to bring adventure in?

The affirmation on this card is, “I savor the wonders of the world.”

That is a great affirmation for the month because it calls for NOTICING the wonders of the world.

The view over a Welsh moor is wonderful, but you must look out the window to notice it.

Have you ever thought about the aerodynamic properties of those big things I call bumbleflies—the ones that are bigger than houseflies? What are the chances that they can fly around?

Perhaps embarking on an adventure doesn’t always mean going somewhere new.

Sometimes it means looking at where you already are as if you’ve never seen it before.

Maybe adventure begins with curiosity. What are the chances that an old friend still has that infections laugh?  Call her and find out. What are the chances that you would like the same sandwich as the person in line in front of you? Or simply stop in the middle of your kitchen and wonder how the electricity got into the kettle? Down the same wire that the squirrels use as a tightrope? 

Several months ago I saw a meme cross my social media feed about writing your journal entries like you were some 1800-s explorer writing to loved ones at home.

Try that. 

Dear Mother, 

When I woke up this morning I was astonished to discover that gravity continues to function. It may be a bit stronger, as I was feeling very loggy in my legs and eyelids.  I peeked again at my hand weights.  They have not been covered by lichen, despite me not taking them from the dark closet in several months. Perhaps the constant peeping is preventing the strange algae from taking hold.  I shall commence an experiment and keep the closet closed for six weeks - and check again.  

If your life is feeling a little stale try keeping a journal this way for a week.  

Maybe that is what embarking on an adventure really means—not necessarily leaving, but becoming available to what is already here.

The really lovely part is that we don't have to manufacture a spectacular life. We already have one. We just need to occasionally remember what we're standing in.

So, what are the chances? Look around. Pick something ordinary. And wonder about it.