REVIEW – Devizes Arts Festival – Belinda Kirk @ Cheese Hall 11th June 2024

Right Out Of The Comfort Zone

by Andy Fawthrop

Following a lively few days of entertaining and varied events over this last weekend, we’re now into Devizes Arts Festival’s second week. 

I decided to trundle along to the Cheese Hall earlier this afternoon to find out what Belinda Kirk might have to say for herself.  Stuff about being adventurous, I’d heard.  I settled down into my seat and awaited a comfortable afternoon chat.  But an hour later things had changed somewhat.

Belinda Kirk is a world-record holding explorer, researcher and a leading campaigner promoting the benefits of “adventure” on wellbeing. She’s written the best-selling, award-nominated, book “Adventure Mind: Transform Your Wellbeing By Choosing Challenge”.  She’s led dozens of international expeditions, numerous youth development challenges, and pioneered inclusive adventures for people with disabilities. She established the Explorers Connect organisation and website in order to spread the word about the life-changing impact of adventure. She’s encouraged over 30,000 ordinary people to engage in transformational outdoor challenges. And most recently she’s faced her greatest challenge: to continue to live adventurously since becoming a parent.

Belinda spoke for about 45 minutes before hosting a Q&A session.  In her talk she emphasised that she was not just talking about “being in Nature” (the benefits of which are now well documented), but about engaging with the world in a much more vigorous way by taking up personal and/ or team challenges.  She was talking jungles, deserts, remote places, open seas, and I was just beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable.

Outlining how participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme as a sixteen year-old had been a complete sliding doors moment for her, she described how she got the bug to get “out there”.  Over the next few years she joined, and later led, several expeditions, worked for five or six years with that Big Softie Bear Grylls, worked as a diver for a year, and took part in a row-round-Britain challenge.  I was fully awake by now and starting to feel how exceptionally lazy I’ve been all my life.

She discovered how impactful it was to undertake both large and small adventures.  She saw with her own eyes time and time again how people of all ages found these challenges to be, literally, life-changing. And it was then that she began to research the psychology of what was actually going on here.  She described in great detail a major expedition she’d led to cross Nicaragua coast-to-coast with a group of severely disabled youngsters, including (incredibly to me) climbing to the summit of an active volcano.  And there were many other examples and stories too.  Much against my will, I was actually on the edge of my seat listening to this stuff.  And I wasn’t alone either – the rest of the packed audience seemed pretty enraptured too.  She’s an enthusiastic, energetic and very articulate speaker.

Belinda spoke of moving from your “comfort zone” to your “stretch zone” and heading towards your “panic zone”.  It sounded like jargon, but it wasn’t – I was definitely on the same page by now.  Pushing yourself has many benefits in enriching your life – giving yourself new skills and confidence, finding out what you’re really capable of, and (crucially) having some fun.   I’m having some of that!

She finished with a lively Q&A session, before signing copies of her book “Adventure Mind: Transform Your Wellbeing By Choosing Challenge”.  But I couldn’t wait around for that – I needed to get outside into my “stretch zone” to swim the K&A Canal, sort out the problems in The Crammer, and single-handedly remove all the traffic-lights across D-Town.  Then I might sit down with a well-deserved cup of tea and a biscuit.

A solidly entertaining afternoon, and another absolute gem from DAF.

You can find out more about Belinda’s adventuring at www.explorersconnect.com/

The Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 16th June at various venues around the town.  Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk

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