Who remembers those Choose Your Own Adventure books? Did you read them in the 90s? I know I did. And they were fun! The basic idea was that you, the reader, got to choose which direction you wanted the story to go in, and by flipping to the right pages, you were transported there.
Depending on which choices you made, you’d either get eaten by a dragon, chase the bad guys or take the safe route home. For kids, who don’t always get to choose their own destiny, these books were the ultimate escape. And the best part? There was an element of surprise with every turn of the page. But it was surprise without risk. Because they were books, after all.
Here in Melbourne, I’ve been thinking that this post-lockdown period is basically a real life version of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. You may be thinking — why? I’ll explain.
During lockdown, so many of our choices were made for us. Feel like going out after 9pm? Sorry, curfew. Craving a weekend away in the country? No such luck, 10km travel limit in place.
It’s constricting when these basic life decisions are made for you, but ironically, it translates into a simpler life in many ways, too.
Life moved at lockdown pace for so many months in a row. It was monotonous, agonising, boring and frustrating, but it was also dependable. We knew what to expect, and how to expect it. And there is a level of comfort in that, especially for people who feel secure in routine.
Now the streets are full again, and it feels…different. It’s like a switch has been flipped in Melbourne, making the streets alive again. And it feels great, honestly it does. But I also wonder if there are aspects of lockdown life that we may miss somewhere down the track.
And then there’s life right now. It’s getting busier and more hectic by the second. And once again, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But — what if we need to take it slower some of the time? How do we set boundaries and put things in place?
It’s hard to strike a balance. Making choices that truly benefit us isn’t always easy, and feeling compelled to “catch up” to the life we missed out on for all these months is only natural. But sometimes these two things clash.
Is there a way to get the best of both worlds?
Can we choose our own adventure in real life, too? Take the best bits from lockdown and the best bits from regular life and blend them together to tell a story we want to tell, to live the life we want to be living?
I’m going to try. I don’t know if it will be as easy as flipping to all the highlights of my life. But maybe it won’t be that hard, either. I do know that that it will take a conscious effort. I’d need to be in tune to my needs enough to make them heard.
But enough about me. How are you feeling through all this?
I’ll leave you with a question:
If your life really was a Choose Your Own Adventure, what would you choose to make happen and when, and how would your ultimate story play out?
The choice is yours.
