Fortune Cookie Friday: Step Out the Door… or Open a Book
How do you spend your free time? When it comes to life, do you enjoy adventure? Do you travel to distant lands or camp in the wild? You could watch movies or play video games. How about reading a book?
There is a scene in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf tells Frodo about Bilbo’s ideas and quotes Bilbo directly:
“He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. ‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,’ he used to say. ‘You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.’”
Later, Frodo recalls and repeats Bilbo’s words almost verbatim as he, Sam, and Pippin actually leave the Shire:
“He paused on the steps and took out the chain. The ring hung from it, glinting in the sun.
“I wonder if that is true,” he thought. “It is a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. …”
Is stepping out the door an adventure? What is adventure?
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, adventure (noun) is an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks, the encountering of risks, or an exciting or remarkable experience. Nonetheless, it is experiencing something we don’t usually do.
I myself love adventures, but try not to take dangerous risks while on them. I’ve had many a broken bone, and prefer not to have any more. I also don’t want any harm to come to anyone else who may be involved. It wouldn’t be ethical.
Most of my adventures are while hiking or camping. I find joy in discovering new paths or hidden glades. Sometimes I like to try new foods—yes, that can be an adventure. Other times, I enjoy watching a movie or reading a book.
When adventuring with the latter, I have found that books (and movies) are a great form of escapism from the humdrum world we live in. Reading is a safe form of adventure. However, it shouldn’t always mimic who we are or what we usually do (see the definition of adventure).
Books allow us to go to new worlds, experience new things, and be someone else. I’m not the only author who thinks this, either. American author, public speaker, and actor, Fran Lebowitz, said, “A book is not supposed to be a mirror. It’s supposed to be a door.”
We open books to new worlds, and step onto the pages. Adventurous readers leap from word to word and peer over the paragraphs. A good book can draw us in and become part of something new and amazing.
We can be soldiers exploring a distant galaxy. We can be a dinosaur that wants to go to school. There are even Choose Your Own Adventure books. Unlike the real world, we can be and do whatever we want. Just remember that not everything we read in books should be repeated in real life (see my previous ethics point).
The stories we read are the what-ifs that flit through people’s heads. Those what-ifs can make us question morality, feel sympathy, and, especially, entertain. One of the best aspects of books is that you can read them in the library, at home, on the bus, or even in the woods—if the wilds aren’t adventurous enough.
Whether through a book or by stepping out your front door, adventure awaits. Will you take it?
