Story Cubes Prompts: The Hobbit! I’m going on an adventure!

This week Story Cubes prompts goes on an adventure! This time I got the following cubes: a map, the Lonely Mountains (or so they look to me), and a telescope. And the first thing that crosses into my mind was: Bilbo Baggins! Those mountains over there look like the Lonely Mountains, and that map over there seems to tell me that I should talk about the Hobbit! If you have visited this blog, you know that I’m a fan of Tolkien: Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit and the Silmarillion. [Yes, I read that one too several times.] While I love Lord of the Rings books more, reality is that in terms of movies, the one that thrilled me more was the Hobbit, and all because of Bilbo.

I like Bilbo because he is a strong character: he grows from a tiny Hobbit who is too comfy on his couch, to a wonderful being who is able to let the ring go. In fact, Bilbo, after years of influence of the ring, let it go on the floor when Gandalf asked him to. If we compare Bilbo and Frodo, we realize that it’s Bilbo the one with a very strong character, and Frodo the one who happens to encounter a situation too big for himself. Frodo is trapped and he has no option but to go on an adventure. Bilbo is free and goes on an adventure because he wants to! And there’s a great difference there!

When you are willingly doing something, odds are that you set up yourself for something amazing. Even if there are dangers on the way, the story might change you in a good way or you might end up doing something with an open heart. However, when you’re forced to do so, your mind set is totally different. No wonder Bilbo seems more resourceful and more willing to take risks than Frodo is. Their mindsets are totally different: one decides to go on an adventure because he wants to, but Frodo hasn’t! While Gandalf is there for both of them to make them do things, Bilbo decided on doing something while Frodo had no choice but to do it. Even when Frodo decides to go beyond Rivendell and get rid of the ring, he does so because he sees he has no other choice. See the paradox here?

Bilbo grows in his adventure: he becomes stronger, he finds skills that he had dormant within himself, and he is able to return home and explain all his adventures. He is able to return home and explain his deeds feeling that he’s changed, but that the whole thing made him better. Frodo can’t cope with returning home, in fact, he is a broken Hobbit.

True, Bilbo takes the boat along with Frodo to go to the land of the Elves and leave Middle Earth forever. But, have you seen their ages? Bilbo is a very old man who wants to enjoy the last days he has. Frodo is just a youngster who has a long way to go, and he is so broken that he has to go away. Bilbo is the old man retiring to a relaxing place, Frodo wants to forget everything related to what happened and disconnect.

So, what is really going on an adventure? It’s doing something from our hearts willingly, setting ourselves in a course of action knowing that we’ll change and we’ll come different home. It might change us forever, but we know that and we accept that. We go out and do extraordinary things! [And yes, waking up for searching for a job when you’re 16 applies as going on an adventure!] But, when circumstances force you to do something you’re not prepared to do, odds are that you might get broken along the way. It might not be like that, but it can happen. Or you might get pretty angry! [Think about the 16-year-old younster who is forced by parents to go to the nearby coffee shop and work; it does feel like a family punishment!]

But, real life hasn’t many opportunities to go on an adventure, has it? Every morning, when you wake up for work, you have a choice: to think about it as Bilbo and be on an adventure; or to think about it as Frodo and be forced to do it. I rather be like Bilbo and go out to slain trolls and orcs, than being like Frodo who gets sicker by the minute by them. Who are you going to be?

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Liked the Story Cubes? Want to use them at home? Find them here:

• Rory’s Story Cubes, the Original ones
• Rory’s Story Cubes (Voyages)
• Rory’s Story Cubes (Clues)
• Rory’s Story Cubes (Enchanted)
• Rory’s Story Cubes (Prehistory)
• Rory’s Story Cubes (Actions)

NOTE: this post contains affiliated links. I only promote things that I like.