David Silberkleit, author of "A New Adventure Every
Day: 541 Simple Ways to Live with Pizzazz," says he started out as a
traditional adventurer -- traveling all over the world, flying airplanes,
scuba diving, racing sailboats.
"Now, I'm more focused on finding adventure at the
post office and library, anywhere you can walk from your house," he said.
His book, he says, is a guidebook for ordinary
people.
"I wanted to take the spirit of the hard-core
adventurer and make that spirit available to everybody," Silberkleit said.
His book is divided into six categories: home,
relationships, body, career, money and nature. And Silberkleit says he's
tried 539 of his suggestions.
Here's one he didn't try: "Look for old stuffed
animals at thrift stores and garage sales. Make them each their own
parachute, with a piece of an old bed-sheet and some string, and hang them
from the trees in your front yard. Make it appear that a squadron of furry
paratroopers is invading your property for fun and adventure."
"My landlord wouldn't let me do that one,"
Silberkleit said, laughing. "I can't remember which other one I didn't try,
but I have celebrated dirt."
Most of his suggestions are less intrusive and more
palatable. Readers may even find that they are already having adventures and
just didn't know it.
Some examples: rearranging your furniture; sleeping
in a tent in your back yard; traveling back to places where you've left a
part of yourself like college, hometown, etc.; make a will; watch clouds.
"Adventure has an unknown outcome," Silberkleit said.
"We live like we know what we're getting into, and we get bored. But we
really don't know how our day will turn out, who will call, who we'll meet."
Silberkleit's book is about changing the attitude
with which we meet everyday situations.
"Adventure is access to vitality," the author said.
"It allows us to feel alive again."
With our nation on alert, Silberkleit said, we have a
greater need for vitality than ever before.
"We have a lot to be afraid of," he said. "But we
can't stop living because we're at code orange.
"If you can find vitality in the supermarket aisle by
simply buying collards for the first time, you're having an adventure."
(Silberkleit lives in Stony Creek, Conn., and
collards are exotic to him.)
Getting back your childlike spirit is what adventure
is all about, Silberkleit said.
"I was really excited as a kid," he said. "Riding my
bike on my block was an adventure. It was a span of about half a mile. I
remember the first speedometer I got for my bicycle. I spent a year trying
to get my bike to go 30 miles per hour."
He still has four bicycles. But now he doesn't try to
break any speed records.
"I stop at every garage sale, at the sight of old
English roadsters and just about anything and everybody I see," he said.
"When I'm on my bicycle, people are more accessible."
Riding a bike gives us a spirit of freedom and that's
"something we long for," Silberkleit said.
"This book was written by a guy on his bicycle trying
to get the speedometer over 30 miles per hour."
Ann Patterson can be reached at 562-7266 or
rebekah.patterson@shj.com.
Empower Coaching
33 Wallace Road
Stony Creek CT 06405
