(Part 17 A)
Smoke and Mirrors
Good and evil were wrought from wrong and right,
When, from naught, twin genii split day and night.
Some think that black’s might can vanquish white,
But night can’t even quench the smallest light! 
“Hello internet class. Today we teach adventure; appropriate topic for what soon must all do, sooner than think, for my boss, Tenth Degree Grand Master of Entire World, Trish, approve my plan; add some nice touch. And no, cannot tell you plan. Today we study benefit of adventure, some soberless drunkless balance between foolish and reason, known as risky venture, unknown territory, calculated risk, dangerous undertaking, not know what to happen, gamble for glory, stimulation by event, chance of luck and good fortune, and often hazard all, in balance of exciting activity needing enterprise and enthusiasm going through perilous escapade of precarious uncertainty with good emotion. Did I mention danger? Many you live adventure on way to ninja base. Nothing like it. Now hear adventure talk of fluttering songbird of youth that leave for some, but never really have to fly away:
The child in us was warm, playful, and bold,
But vanished, ere we knew, leaving us cold.
Now this we know: The day we stop being
Adventurous is the day we get old.
So, dare to walk the line, balancing fun
There between protection and misfortune,
For the greatest blunder in life is to
Repeatedly fear that you might make one.
Not quite sober blessed nor drunk to excess—
Never too foolish nor very reckless;
Oh, adventure is so reasonable
In this delicate state of awareness.”
“I’ll help your Conspiracy fight plan in any way,” offered Rascal, many others seconding and thirding this, “for goodness requires adventure!”
“OK, Rascal, since you so willing and from same base I give good job to you so prepare future field leadership role and do TOE too.”
“If anyone can, he can,” added Profpat. “What does adventure seek?”
“It seek life’s light of delight, joy, success, triumph, and lasting gladness of to be alive, for it main ingredient in living recipe make from friendship, love, happiness, and nature, but, so unfortunate that:
Few people celebrate life anymore…
There’s not enough time in the day, they’re sure,
To care about life, friends, love, romance, joy,
Wisdom, smiles, thrill, and dreams through adventure.
See them hurrying hither and thither:
Oh, look at the time! I must go whither.
What sense the life that has no time to live?
Wherefore the wind that swirls in a dither?”
“Right on,” said Fredrick, “so walk the dead, for adventure is life’s heart of hearts, the very spirit of life from transition through opposition.”
Graybeard added, “The great quest spurs us ever on!”
Michael interjected, “We fight for the one and to the one, one for all and all for one.”
“OK, good, I feel energize—now give more detail instruction to very interested class; never have those like you. Here go:
Boredom and dull routine have little place, if any, in a life, and it is only by one’s own laziness that they are allowed to exist at all, languishing nearby on the doorstep, as it were, as uninvited guests, as all the while terrible complaints are hurled against them.
‘I’m bored’, some say, halfheartedly hoping that some new entertainment will appear out of the blue and carry them away from a dreary commonplace existence, perhaps into a fairy tale. So, adventure calls constantly to us as a cure for the blahs, for routine dulls the senses—even the greatest music soon begins to fall unheard on our ears, and gradually degenerates into that same old song.
Although breaking the chains of routine often requires a great burst of energy, adventure can become self-sustaining once the seeds have been planted. Yes, initially, some hard work must be applied, since adventuring is not normal, free, and easy in this world, but, remember, that before all realized realities must come the dream, the creative vision, the attitude and the outlook that will bring adventure to life.
Even before the dream comes the yearning, though it’s dim at first, glowing as a faint phantasm in a fleeting daydream struggling to maintain its shape before it fades into the noise of day. As these shadows pass over the adventurous mind, the vision must be enhanced and then steadily pursued until it, at last, becomes three-dimensional and real. We often look back later, quite amazed at the wonders that we have wrought, but—we had the vision and gave it life.
Daydreams are filled with thoughts on promenade:
Wishes, fantasies o’er the mind cascade.
Listen well to these plans already made,
For by sundown the phantom shapes may fade.
The rewards of adventure are many; stimulation, experience, and growth are practical results, but foremost comes joy, exhilaration, and thrill—the feeling of being alive. Who has not known the adventure of walking to school alongside a steam, dallying here and there, then crossing over the water on a log, nearly slipping off, but catching one’s self at the last instant while skipping a heartbeat? Who has not known the electricity of the first kiss at summer camp? Or of the reading or writing of a great poem or story while basking warm and cozy in the winter sunshine? Or the thrill of a job well done? If we no longer know such things, then, perhaps, now is the time to stop worrying about getting our hair messed up.
It’s all a matter of style, purpose, and vision. To plant the seeds of adventure one must seek out the uncommon, the unusual situation, the exotic, even in one’s own backyard, looking for the odd character, although certainly not those who are unhealthy, the pleasantly eccentric (by today’s staid standards), the person willing to try just about anything that isn’t illegal, the offbeat but upbeat person, the optimist, the exciting prospect, the person with those excitingly wonderful and harmless qualities called ‘character defects’.
And so it is that once you find it, adventure begets more adventure, for, ideas from all over soon begin to interact and build until a person rises above mere existence and really lives! Oh, I’ve had many adventures myself, from romance in the south seas to mysterious intrigue in the villages of France, but travel and romance are only a general means to adventure—there are many more, mostly personal, for it depends on what you want from life. Adventure can be had right here in one’s own town.
Of course, some adventures entail a minor amount of risk-taking and rule breaking, for that which is often uncommon is often the most extraordinary and therefore must draw undue attention from those in the straight world, but, I ask you, does not the element of danger often greatly heighten the excitement? Who has not, in the throes of spring fever, slyly disappeared from his place of employment on some exciting romantic mission, and found adventure in that ‘forbidden’ quest?
Yes, students, adventure is lived in that delightful middle state in which we are neither drunk nor sober—nor ever reckless, but ever balancing excitement with responsibility, each paying for the other as we walk the thin line between foolishness and safety—the log across the creek.
So, I say, to you all, prime the pump; seek out adventure, embrace it. Use your emotions, get up out of your chair and into the arena; open up and invite adventure in, give it, take it; live life with a reasonable passion and with a passionate reason; for adventure will become a living situation that becomes automatic! Then you will say ‘I’m excited, there’s everything to do in this town, the people are mostly wonderful, and I marvel at life’s wonders each and every day!’”
Everyone ran out the door and had a great afternoon and evening on into the night.
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