Explorer

I explore how to cook with new fresh herbs

Maybe it is curiosity? Maybe I can't sit still? Perhaps I am just drawn to discomfort or newness or even just stretching the limits of who I think I am? I don't know what it is but I love to explore. 

I have already made it clear that I love to travel but maybe the root of this desire goes even deeper than sheer delight or appreication. Maybe I am an explorer.

I was recently relearning Carl Jung's 12 archetypes that describe human personalities in our world. The idea is that you are at least one of them and that all people can be broadly categorized into archetypal roles. I am not into boxing people in, but I cannot pretend that this systematic creation we are part doesn't have patterns.

As I read through these I came across the defition of the explorer.I felt each word in the core of my being as utter truth.

 

I explore the flavors of fruit combinations in my juices

The Explorer
Motto: Don't fence me in
Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world
Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life
Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness
Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom
Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit
Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one's soul
The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.

This is such a part of my experience and identity. As life goes sometimes, it just so happens that while I was reviewing these archetypes I was not traveling the world likeI would prefer, I was sitting at my desk at work. I was considering the possibility of turning Jung's theory into small group curriculum. I was already having a hard time concentrating and in the middle of summer I end up spending way more time in my office than I could ever, possibly want to. In that frame of mind, I was suddenly unsettled. I could not stand to be inside another moment and was bombarded with the desire to fly away...anywhere...right...now!

I explore an old friend's new stories of his new life

I had to think this through. If I am an explorer in my soul then I should be able to experience growth and joy anytime I am exploring. Just like with Vacation, I was reminded that the gift of exploration for the fulfillment of ones life can happen through many avenues.

Lately, I have been exploring books, ideas and YouTube tutorials on human energy.  It has also been fun to explore the neighborhood I have moved into, finding little treasures like miniature Stone Henge around the corner, a Boo Hole, and new neighbors who also can offer me a chance to explore their stores. I have explored my own talents and creativity by painting new themes or learning how to grow new plants on my shady porch. 

I explore new places to have a drink and eat dinner

The gift of exploration is so adapatable that I really began to see that I explore not just places and things but people and myself. Exploration isn't something I have to leave Charlotte to do.It isn't something I have to leave my house to do. I am exploration.

Maybe you are not an explorer archetype like I believe I am, but perhaps you too just needed a little nudge to seek and see your day to day living as much more than just going through the motions. 

Just explore that idea and see what becomes of it. I bet it will be good.