Issue link: http://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25120
I recently met some new folks and started talking with them. The subject eventually turned to blue. "Oh yes, you're involved with that new adventure magazine," one said. ''I've heard of it. You cover extreme sports and stuff like that." "Well, it's much more actually," I responded. "If you read it you'll discover it's about a new lifestyle attitude: integrating a sense of adventurousness into day-to-day life, perceiving the globe as an accessible place and embracing the natural challenges the world offers." "Hmm" he said. The focus then turned to his brother who enjoyed skydiving on a regular basis and was also drawn to a host of other adventure sports such as whitewater kayaking and mountain biking. My conversation partner was concerned, and I quote verbatim, that his brother was "self-medicat ing for depression" through his adrenaline-inspired antics. He also felt there was something "anti-intellectual" about the whole thing and was disturbed about his brother's lack of career path. "How does your brother feel about all this?" I asked. Well, apparently his brother felt just fine about it. This is the crazy world we live in. I applaud all of you out there who are smart and bold enough to self-medicate with action sports and the adventure lifestyle, as I call it. What a wonderful solution to the bad moods and bad days that inevitably arise in every person's life. How brave and innovative to see beyond the seemingly more popular pseudo-treatments such as heroin, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, Prozac, or just outright complaining. I am familiar with a variety of philosophies that seem to work for many people: when the going gets rough, take a break and do some adventure seeking. Go paddling (for some), go climbing (for others), go snowboarding (still others) or go travelling to somewhere you never dreamed you'd ever go. Hopefully your chosen pastime will turn into a healthy addiction-growing your tolerance for worldly stress all the while. To classify adventure seeking as either intellectual or anti-intellectual seems off track since what we are talking about is really sensory in spirit. Would you describe sex as anti-in tellectual? People unanimously feel great after experiencing adventurous challenges. I've found that opening your mind and body to new ideas and sensations creates a positive and totally healthy feeling-that of being happy to be alive. So, when the going gets rough, remember that there's a natural world of self-medication out there just waiting for the taking. AMY SCHRIER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 4