How To Live An Adventurous Life

Adventure 231 ~ Embrace Failure

/ intrepidjane

J K Rowling quoteToday I received my first reply from a literary agent about my children’s story, The Faerie Thorn. It was a standard email – and it wasn’t a “yes”.

In today’s video, I explore my reaction to the email : it’s probably worth watching if  you think fear of failure may be holding you back (or if you’re worried about what others may think if you don’t succeed).

The “take-away” from today’s adventure is : “failure” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be 😛 (and if you’ve got things that you really want to do, go right ahead and do them!) .. oh … and whatever you do…  hold your nerve!

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 17 ~ How To Taste Coffee Like A Pro

/ intrepidjane

Today I decided to have an adventure in my coffee break 🙂 To be more precise, I decided to make the experience of drinking coffee my adventure.

I did a little bit of research about how coffee connoisseurs do the whole tasting thing and then gave it a whirl. The experience made me realise that I really hadn’t been tasting my coffee at all before!

(Top tasting tip : if you’re going to try this, make sure that you taste the coffee black and unsweetened. Additions such as milk, sugar and syrups cloud the palate!)

I am just going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 15 ~ What’s Your Beef?

/ intrepidjane

Today I set myself the challenge of learning all the cuts of beef in under 2 minutes. Can I do it?

If you’re interested , there is a link to an image containing all the UK terms for the cuts below the video.

The link to the image for UK terms for cuts of beef is here. If you check it, you’ll see I managed it!

I am just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 14 ~ It’s As Easy As ABC

/ intrepidjane

I enjoyed my first sign language adventure so much that I’m giving it another go! Today I’m trying my hand at signing the alphabet in British Sign Language. This was alot of fun 🙂

You can learn how to do this here.

I am going outside and may be some time.

JT

Adventure 13 ~ Kettle-Boiling Challenge 1

/ intrepidjane

Have you ever asked yourself what you might be able to do in the time it takes to boil a kettle? If you’re anything like me, the answer to that question is probably a resounding “no”.

Today I’m trying my first kettle adventure (and a boiling kettle certainly adds pressure to the experience, I can tell you!)

Today’s challenge is to do with words . I’ve posted the results , along with actual kettle-boiling time, below the video.

Kettle-boiling time : 1 minute 25 seconds

Liquid : 0.5 litre room-temperature water

Number of words (excluding repeats) : 26

Performance hindered by : all the swear words I knew beginning with the letter “B” that I wouldn’t let myself say! Blocking any word blocked the overall flow of words.

Big lesson : conscious self-regulation can impede performance!

I’m just going outside and I maybe some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 12 ~ Gutting A Fish

/ intrepidjane

One of the key ideas underpinning my 365 Days of Adventure project is that adventure can be found everywhere if we look for it . We don’t have to go to foreign places or do “way out things” to feel the sense of aliveness that adventure can bring.

When we come to the realisation that adventure can be found  in the everyday routine of life, when we are open to experiencing so-called routine with the mindset of an adventurer, then we are conditioning a constant connection to the pulse of our own aliveness.

Today I’m having grilled mackerel for lunch. I’m a huge mackerel fan and eat it at least once a week. It’s routine for me. And yet today will be an adventure for me because I’m going to gut a fish for the very first time.

I’m writing this before I gut the mackerel because even thinking about preparing the fish in this way has made me feel very differently about my food. I somehow feel more connected to the creature that has given its life for me. I’m not sure how this is going to go.

(I’ve posted a picture of my lunch underneath the video 🙂 )

fishI found this adventure to be a very earthing experience.

I felt great gratitude as I ate my food today. I thought of the fish and of the sea. I thought of my place within the system of all living organisms. I felt connected.

I’m changing my mind about something. I’m not quite sure about what yet. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 11 ~ Driving A Digger

/ intrepidjane

FFTalbotOne thing that you may not know about me is that I used to be a retained fire fighter in a small town in Scotland.

At this point, I should maybe explain that I wasn’t the world’s greatest fire fighter due to my gift for being totally impractical.

Fast forward to 11th January 2014 and I find myself walking into an adventure requiring some practical talent! (Oh dear).

Today I am trying my hand at working a Kubota KX161-3 ~ a 5-ton class digger (there is a picture of the digger in its full glory below the video).

This is what I managed after a 2-minute training session :

diggerHere she is in all her glory. The first part of the arm from the cab is called the boom. The second part of the arm is called the dipper. The final part is called the bucket.

You’ll notice that I didn’t talk very much during the video : I had to concentrate quite hard!

I am just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 10 ~ How To Make Your Own Toothpaste

/ intrepidjane

Have you ever watched a cooking programme where the chef says something along the lines of “and here’s something you can rustle up from your own store cupboard” ?

Then they open their store cupboard and it just  happens to be sufficiently equipped to build a self-fuelling fighter jet from scratch and feed its pilot for 3 months. And then you think “yeah, right”.

Inspired by the Store Cupboard Theory, today’s adventure sought to answer the question “what, if anything, can I rustle up from my own store cupboard?” I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had all the ingredients to make my own flouride-free toothpaste!

So, here’s me demonstrating how to make it 🙂 (I’ve posted a photo below the video too which may impress you completely.)

toothpasteAs you can see , the mixture did ripen into perfect toothpaste consistency eventually! Whilst the maturing process has in no way improved its flavour, I may make some more on the basis that it seems to numb your taste buds for hours  (which may come in handy should I be force-fed Brussels sprouts 😛 ). I am also thinking “fighter jet fuel”.

I am going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 9 ~ How To Fudgel

/ intrepidjane

For Christmas I received a fabulous gift : The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth. The Horologicon is a quirky, entertaining and witty book about extraordinary, obscure and obsolete words.

I’m using the book as a basis for today’s adventure (and there is plenty of scope for future adventures too!). Today I am going to resurrect “fudgel”, an eighteenth century word which deserves a twenty-first century revival.

By the way, if you haven’t learned to fudgel yet, you really ought to. In today’s video, I show you how it’s done. It turns out that I’ve got quite a talent for it.

I’m just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT