A few months ago, we talked about the benefits of consistent, ongoing, healthy routines. Daily habits and small practices help us manage our lives and mental health by creating structure, stability, and balance.
However, it’s also important to keep in mind that we don’t want to get “stuck” in those patterns! Too much structure or too much of the familiar and repetitive can become mechanical, if not plain boring.
Many of the best parts of life are all about trying new things, venturing outside of our comfort zones, and ultimately learning about different aspects of our world and ourselves. Exploring new activities, skills, and ideas is essential to nurturing curiosity, joy, growth, and purpose — at all ages and stages of our lives.
The Psychology of Something New
Growing up, we were constantly trying new things and engaging in new activities in and outside the classroom. Didn’t it feel like there was all the time in the world for exploring interests, cultivating skills, discovering abilities, and pursuing our passions?
This dynamic changes quite a bit as we get older, where we take on more and more “grown-up” responsibilities and roles. It often becomes that we must seek out opportunities to try new things and learn or relearn something as adults — rather than those automatically coming to us in the form of experiments, field trips, lessons, and extracurriculars.
But exploring and encountering new things as an adult is worth that effort! Our life feels more meaningful and fuller through each new experience that we have.
There’s even a science to newness:
- Things that are “new” to us (whether that’s new information, new ideas/concepts, new events and activities, new conversations, or a new place) stimulate our minds. This stimulation rewires our neural connections and creates new neural pathways through a process called “neuroplasticity.” Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt its neural networks through growth and reorganization.
- Our brains like to categorize things in the world based on their novelty, so doing new things helps us create key memories and notable milestones.
- By creating these new neural pathways through new experiences, we can help the brain repair itself after damage, such as a stroke. Neuroplasticity also helps the brain retain its ability to adapt throughout life, even as the number of neurons declines.
- New experiences help release dopamine — a neurotransmitter that improves our mood, makes us feel happy, and promotes positive emotions.
Overcoming Anxiety and Breaking out of Your Comfort Zone
Trying new things can often be scary. There’s a vulnerability in being a beginner and trying something different and unfamiliar. It’s natural to be self-conscious or feel socially awkward — and sometimes we’re so worried of “failing” at something that we avoid trying it altogether.
Yet there’s also incredible courage and strength in opening yourself up to new experiences. We can’t let fear of uncertainty or self-doubt constrain us from discovering what brings us purpose and fulfillment in the world.
In another recent blog, we talked about the power of living authentically — and that applies here: we owe it to ourselves to spend as much time as we can living our lives to the fullest and following our hearts.
You don’t have to go from 0 to 100 in a heartbeat. It can help to remember that everyone was once in the same position at some point, and very likely had to practice, study, or train to get better at it. Whether that “it” is sewing, riding a bike, speaking another language, painting, playing an instrument, planting a garden, taking a class, or joining a club — try taking small steps that allow you to branch out at your own pace.
And don’t forget that a lot of this is simply enjoying the process of embracing new activities, connecting with others, and shining light on different sides of ourselves.
Getting Started
Trying new things can often be fun! Remember the child-like awe and wonder you experienced as a kid when you visited a zoo for the first time or the joy of playing outside or building new worlds through games and toys?
There are so many ways to recreate those feelings. Here are a few ideas and local hubs to help get you started:
- High Plains Library District: Events Calendar
- Greeley's incredible new LINC Library Innovation Center is an impressive local hub for those looking to get involved in community skills classes, free craft/maker spaces, and social activity/hobby clubs.
- Discover and join local and statewide Facebook Groups or meetups to meet others, learn tips, share ideas, and find activity/interest communities.
- Check out Discover Weld to explore upcoming and ongoing events, county attractions, and recreational activities.
- Give back to and make a difference in your community through volunteer opportunities with organizations like United Way or NOCO Humane's Weld Campus.
- Consider Continuing Education courses for personal and professional learning through AIMS Community College.
- Paint your own pottery or build something new with clay at ChillPotz in Windsor.
- Stay tuned to Weld County Buzz’s weekly roundup of exciting activities and community events.
- Stop by The Ginger Cat, a fiber arts shop that focuses on hangout space, and facilitates creativity. They offer classes, yarn, accessories for knitting and crochet, and most importantly, a space to connect with your local crafty folk!
- Sign up for something you’ve always wanted to do like joining an improv group or local birdwatching club, taking a woodworking or ceramics class, dropping by a local trivia night, trying out an online course, learning guitar or how to code through YouTube tutorials.
- Revisit childhood hobbies as an adult: there are tons of toys/games that are meant for grown-ups! Legos, puzzles, paint by number, model kits, etc.
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