Where Adventures Lead Us: ‘Louisa May Alcott: A Child’s Biography’

We should not be afraid of jumping into life's adventures, as each one is special and meaningful. Yuganov Konstantin/Shutterstock

Some people journey far from home to seek adventure, while others wait for adventures to come softly upon them.

In her short story, “Louisa May Alcott: A Child’s Biography,” Louisa May Alcott tells of a 6-year-old Louisa who actively seeks out adventures. At this young age, she has the terrible habit of running away.

Looking For Adventure

On a beautiful morning, after her mother helps her dress, the little Louisa sneaks out and runs away as fast as she can. She has no plan: “She does not care so very much just where she goes so long as she is having an adventure, all by herself.”

Louisa’s reckless nature leads her to and fro, never looking back. She finds other children who invite her to play with them. She joins them and thoroughly enjoys herself.

Soon she decides that it is time to find another adventure and bids farewell to her new friends. She “hop-skips” to Boston Common, where she plays and wanders about until it begins to grow dark.

With night fast approaching, Louisa realizes that she misses home and her mother. Unfortunately, she does not know how to get home, so she settles down on some steps for the night with a friendly dog for company. She is soon fast asleep.

A Remedy

Louisa is awakened by a town crier ringing a bell and exclaiming: “Lost—Lost—A little girl, 6 years old, in a pink frock, white hat, and new, green shoes!” Louisa is found!

After such a great adventure and seeing how it affected her poor mother, Louisa is determined to mend her ways.

In an effort to counter her adventurous inclination to run away, Louisa decides to hide out in her room and preoccupy her mind with stories. She makes up stories and, if she approves them, writes them down.

A Destiny

After creating story after story, Louisa realizes that she enjoys storytelling. In fact, “she finds she likes making stories better than anything she has ever done in her life.” From that moment on, writing stories becomes Louisa’s passion.

From this little girl’s passion arises one of the most well-known American novels, “Little Women.” Louisa’s dreams of adventures may have changed, but they did not stop: She found adventures through her stories, which helped her see the world in a new light and pursue adventures that she would never otherwise have experienced.

Louisa May Alcott found adventure in writing stories. An Illustration of author Louisa May Alcott, circa 1860s. Fotosearch/Getty Images

Alcott shows us, as C.S. Lewis writes in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”: “Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny.”

We should not be afraid of jumping into life’s adventures, as each one is special and meaningful. And we must not be discouraged when adventures seem small or trivial, for even these can lead us to our destiny.