Are you seeking security or adventure?
Hello Dazzle! Thanks for coming and hanging out with me today, I’m glad that you are here. I think this question speaks directly to the dichotomy that dwells within my brain. My ADHD squirrel thrives off adventure and novelty. My OCD/Autistic beaver thrives on security.
In all truth, I think that if we are approaching this question honestly that all humans have some mixed up need for both. It will vary greatly for each person the degree to each that is required in a person’s life, but we all need both. After all, life is nothing but change and can never be avoided. Yet, we are creatures of habit that find comfort in the familiar and attach ourselves to objects that remind us of times lost.
When I think of security, I think about structure and sameness. For me, it is about having a good sense of what is expected of me in a given situation. I feel secure when I feel confident that I know how to properly handle a situation. Every situation has rules and expectations for how we should handle them in order to be judged as professional, knowledgeable or a good person. Security is knowing those rules and expectations.
Adventure is when I am moving into the world of the unexplored and unfamiliar. It could be a new food, a new place or meeting new people. Any time I don’t know the script and don’t feel confident of the rules and expectation I feel that I am moving into the realm of adventure.
In general, I am a creature that prefers sameness. I feel most comfortable with life when I am in security. Life is already so complex that I don’t generally need more complexity by having to try to figure out what I am doing all the time as well. Yet, I like to try new things as well. There is so much out there in life to experience and there isn’t enough time to do all the things.
In my perfect world, adventure is framed in by security. This means that I am controlling when had how adventure enters my life. It means that I can leave the adventurous situation anytime I choose. An example of this would be choosing to try a new food by picking up food from a new place. By doing take out, I can eat the new food in a familiar and comfortable environment. And if I am eating the new food and don’t like it there are other options for me to switch to since I am at home. There is an easy out.
In my perfect life, adventure is limited to careful explorations of the world while ensuring that there is a firm lifeline still connected to my sense of security. But real life never lines up with how we imagine perfect to be and I often find myself through into adventure without expecting to be there. Those times that you are driving home from work and your car breaks down in a town you’ve never been in. Or a person you’ve never met has decided that they needed more adventure in their lives and that introducing themselves to you is how they are looking to find it. Or it could just be that the ADHD squirrel had itself a particularly impulsive moment and decided that now was the time for adventure…
When unexpected adventure comes my way, I have to deal with it. That’s how life is. But it usually results in the need to retreat into my security afterwards to restore that sense of safety and familiarity that keeps me grounded. This often looks like hiding. Maybe it is. I’m ok with that. There is a time and place for hiding and resting in our lives. Our culture has put so much focus on the hustle that it has forgotten the value of the quiet places in our lives.
For me, security and adventure will always be like the tide. They will come in and out of my life. They will effect me for a time and then fade out to leave room for their counter part. This is the rhythm of life. The tides come in and they go out again.
Well, that’s about it for my rambling today. Thanks for coming and spending some time with me. If you like my rambling then click on that like button. It really does help! Until we talk again, you take care of yourselves!
Zebra Pig 
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