Weeventure is a community blog, based around a simple idea of personal growth through adventure.
It is first and foremost, not a new idea. Anyone who has heard the phrase “character building” We claim no sense of originality or propriety to this concept. It has many parents.
So we’re talking adventures, usually in the company of like minded folk. It isn’t about a multi-year expedition but more the sort of thing that you would do in your couple of weeks annual leave. Don’t be mistaken into thinking we’re talking purely epic scale adventures too. An adventure to someone with agoraphobia may well just be going for a walk in their park. It is the principle we must look to;
adventure n.exciting and risky undertaking or exploit
When you step outside of your comfort zone, and find that you succeed and thrive in that previously unknown territory, you will naturally expand that comfort zone until you reach the point where your self-confidence and esteem is beyond the ability of everyday events to injure. You know that you can cope.
The British Armed Forces employ this principle and articulate it better than we do;
“Challenging outdoor training for Service personnel in specified adventurous activities, involving controlled exposure to risk, in order to develop leadership, teamwork, physical fitness, moral and physical courage, among other personal attributes and skills vital to Operational capability.”British Army: The Definition of Adventurous Training
In a more current, less combatative, incarnation this idea of taking on simple challenges to broaden your experience and increase your confidence has been brilliantly packaged and championed by seasoned professional adventurer Alastair Humphreys. In his hashtag revolution (and later book) MIcroadventures, he advocates for undertaking adventures on your doorstep. These range from walking home for Christmas to sleeping out on a hill near your home town. But the point is that such a simple first step will often be that first push against the invisible walls of the dreaded comfort zone. It’s not often you get to start a movement but for Humphreys, microadventure has become left the pages of his blog/books and sifted into the common lexicon. It is simply the standard term for a small scale adventure. So now you know what to call your bank holiday camping trip with mates.
So we’re combining both of those things, plus a big degree of community and camaraderie to create Weeventure.
WE E VENTURE – We (together) take on new ventures
WEE VENTURE – We aren’t looking to break world records, just do interesting things while balancing the other demands of life. Think of Wee Venture as the Scottish translation of Microadventure
Our basic aim is to share stories which are relatable and accessible for all with a taste for adventure. But we want to become more than that; Weeventure has aspirations to become a social enterprise. A non-for-profit group, funds raised from corporate sponsorship will go towards funding two key areas;
- The awarding of grants to individuals or teams, in order to allow them to take on a challenge or adventure.
- The awarding of grants to charitable bodies who support people to experience the transformative power of pushing your limits.
Which means that people who would otherwise be unable to, can now go on expeditions and charities who use adventurous pursuits to build confidence can get funding for their projects. Importantly, it is you, our email subscribers who will decide the projects through polling. We want this site to be as much a community as possible.
