Creative ADVENTures: Prompts, Challenges & Creative Play

These ADVENTures grew from the stress and uncertainty of THE GREAT PANDEMIC OF 2019, when many of us were furloughed, laid off, isolated, quarantined, or otherwise hunkered down to avoid catching or spreading COVID-19.

As limited return-to-work began at the end of 2020, the domino effects of months-long shutdowns became clear: closed vendors, parts shortages, logistics nightmares, HR challenges, and plenty of employment uncertainty.

These ADVENTures became my creative container for transmuting that helpless, gnawing energy into action and humor. What began as a way to make sense of the absurdity soon grew into a straw-to-gold narrative about planning and scheduling chaos, employment changes, and the imperfections that arise in the thick of it all.

The original 25 ADVENTures were written in real time to sync with Christmas Advent and dispatched one day at a time through the now-retired eScriber newsletter. Along the way, a new character emerged: the tarotble, pseudonymous card reader Madam Bedazzle. The pieces eventually became a book, followed by increasingly corny videos. Now, nearly five years later, they're being refined into Web site installations.

Yes, this body of work has grown legs and keeps evolving. It's become a living example of what happens when an artist enters the creative process and keeps going. When one creative act turns into a series, and that series becomes a whole performance, we've found our place in the play of life. Keep playing! — Chris Dunmire, August 22, 2026