Intrepidus Vita is latin for Fearless Life.
A bit far-fetched, isn’t it? To have fear is to exist. It is what keeps us alive, puts life’s events into perspective, and gives us reason to respect nature. Fear has a productive place in the life cycle.
But fear has also taken hold of so many of us in ways that are not useful. The emotions of worry, stress, and anxiety all stem from fear. With the pervasive misinformation and indoctrination of others’ ideals through the use of Social Media and consumers as the product to press, we have begun to fear things we didn’t know existed.
Finding out what’s going on, whether via social media or news outlets, becomes an addiction. Stressing about what to do in the event that something happens in the future is a sure fire way to not only increase advertising sales of the provider, but also leads to a habit of needing to console oneself by getting a “quick fix” from social media or other outlets [1].
We’re not only fearful of events and the “what ifs,” we’re now incredibly sensitive to what people think, leading to dissatisfaction with oneself and constant comparison to others. This can lead to depression and suicide, proven by studies and recently acknowledged by the Father of social media: Facebook itself.
That got dark. Yes, it did. On purpose.
We have to become more mindful. We must rediscover the principles at our core. Living in a reactionary world isn’t good for anyone and will lead to unhappiness including depression, as noted by James Clear’s bestseller Atomic Habits. The only way to change is by choosing what you let impact you, training your brain to think outside of the box, and learning to live fearless again.
Once we let go of fear, or shove it into it’s space in the back corner, we are able to remove the dark shaded glasses we’ve been wearing. That isn’t to say that life will instantly get better or be easier – life will always be hard and that’s why we have the ability to work hard and overcome obstacles. We are only as weak and fearful as we allow ourselves to be. In fact, the more fear controls us, the less brain power we use. Critical thinking about a situation becomes impossible. We begin to live within a perpetual state of impulse (fight or flight), which is what we are designed to do only in a life or death situation. Our bodies use their available resources to protect us for a short period of time, like a Zebra trying to get away from a lion. If we are constantly channeling that protective stress response, we are not able to function at a healthy level because we are depleting resources and never healing, as documented in countless studies and notable books: Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: An Updated Guide to Stress, Stress Related Diseases, and Coping and Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way we Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. In other words, we can’t move forward in life, we can’t forgive, we can’t grow and become the best version of ourselves. We will forever and always be a product of our environment.
The purpose behind Intrepidus Vita is to pursue a lifestyle that embodies freedom, courage focuses on encouraging others. It is about not settling, and experiencing life beyond the 9-5. It’s about taking advantage of every opportunity and not giving up because something involves effort and hard work. It also just so happens to involve doing so from a 23 foot short bus named Intrepidus.
Intrepidus is our tool to living a more fearless life. Not only are we able to work and live on the road, we also had to put the blood, sweat, and tears into converting her for it to be livable. It took hard work, a willingness to learn new skills, patience, and a lot of beating our heads against walls. Throughout the entire experience we could have thrown in the towel. Thankfully, we had enough passion to keep going and despite not being 100% done, we’re on the road living freely in a way that is impossible in a bricks and sticks house.
Bus life works wonderfully for some, but may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The point is to find something that sparks life in you; that recharges you; that is worth overcoming society’s indoctrination of fear. You’re worth it – don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.
[1] https://www.iomcworld.org/open-access/neurotransmitter-dopamine-da-and-its-role-in-the-development-of-social-media-addiction-59222.html
