Novel Experience Day Forty-Eight: Sweating to the Oldies!

Dear Reader,

I am at a loss.  Just how does one start a blog posting that has anything to do with Richard Simmons?  Particularly, when it is about your attempt to do Sweating to the Oldies 4 with your 2 year-old son?  I guess the only choice I have is to start from the beginning, which takes us back to week one of this project.

During my first week of novel experiences, I spent a great deal of time fending off my fear of starting this experiment and failing...  completely, utterly, and publicly.  I had doubts about being able to identify 365 new experiences, when I've tried so many things in my lifetime already.  I also had doubts about my ability to maintain the myriad other responsibilities and commitments in my life while adding another, sometimes time consuming and challenging, task to the seemingly never ending to-do list.  Of course, I told myself, if it gets to be too much I can always just quit...  

Right.  However, there is one major, characterological flaw with this line of thought:  I am stubborn.  I often tell my clients that stubbornness can be a very good quality - if you direct it toward the right things, like attaining a goal, finishing a health-promoting project, or carrying out an important responsibility to its completion.  And I whole-heartedly believe this to be true.  However, in my case I am, perhaps to a pathological degree, not a quitter.  If I make a commitment, I will follow through, sometimes at high personal cost, to the absolute bitter end.  Knowing this about myself, I try very hard NOT to commit to anything that could be negative or push my life out of balance.  So while, of course, I could always back out of this experiment if it gets to be too much, I knew that if I publicly committed to starting it, I would feel compelled to see it to its completion at almost any cost.  

Note my use of the word "almost."  The major exceptions here are my children.  While I have many other responsibilities in my life, my commitment to my two little munchkins trumps everything else I have going on.  I felt certain that I would choose to quit if the experiment had a negative impact on them.  And while this is positive in many regards, this brings us right back to the fear I had of completely, utterly, and publicly failing.  

Which also brings us back to Richard Simmons!  While I went around in mental circles, knowing that I needed a project such as this one to fill a gap in my life, but fearing the possible negative consequences of committing, I decided to take a jaunt down to my basement and go on a hunt for future novel experiences.  Now, if you have been a faithful reader from early on, you might remember me talking about my basement?  And also about my mother, the fellow novelty seeker, who undoubtedly passed this propensity down to me?  (If not, you may wish to click here before reading on so that you can be up to speed on both matters!)  Well, doing just a little digging I found that I somehow owned a copy of Sweating to the Oldies 4 on VHS!  (Of course.  Doesn't everyone have this lurking in their basement somewhere?!)  So I brought this little gem upstairs and tucked it away for some future cheesy novelty fun.  

It took more than a month, but today I decided to pop this tape in and experience a Richard Simmons workout first hand.  After fast forwarding through all of the advertisements and previews this is what I got:

What a disappointment!  To think that I was given the precious gift of a used Richard Simmon's Sweating to the Oldies VHS tape, and it ends up being broken!  I had a vague memory from my childhood about a tracking adjustment on old VCR's, but my newfangled version does not appear to have one.  However, all was not lost.  Despite the picture, I could clearly hear the song "Shout," with Richard touting the importance of giving ourselves daily hugs.  I also, through the interference, could make out the basics of the dance moves.  So, as I had looked forward to this novel experience for a while now, my stubbornness kicked in and I decided to give it a shot regardless.  By the time the first song was complete, Liam was chanting "No, 'Shout!'  No dance!"  He clearly had had his fill of Richard Simmons.  And, although my original intention had been to complete the entire workout, I allowed my toddler to temper my resistance to quitting and shut the television off.  Clearly, there is much to learn from a two year-old!  

It's time for me to sign off and say "goodnight."  Don't forget to hug yourself today!

Christy

Novel Experience Day Forty Seven: Caught in the Hail Storm

While I do admit to having my fair share of neuroses, there are only two things that make me truly afraid.  The first, which I have already admitted to in this blog, is heights.  Or more specifically, I am afraid of falling or of witnessing the (serious) fall of a loved one.  I have no idea where this fear comes from, but I can remember climbing a fire tower as a wee one and having to cling to my grandfather's hand...  Or his leg... Or a support beam...  the entire way up and down.  This is my first memory of a great many memories of times that I have felt afraid of heights.   For the most part, I have not let this fear stop me from experiencing the good things in life, and there are many examples of the times that I have "felt the fear, and did it anyway..."

Recent examples include crossing a suspension bridge in the cloud forest in Costa Rica. Scared, but did it.  Climbing one of the only Mayan pyramids in Mexico that is still allowed to be climbed by the public...  Terrified, but did it, (while crying).  And doing the "cat walk" at a high ropes course...  Absolutely out of my mind with fear, crying, but did it.  After completing each of these experiences I had a high that was indescribable and felt incredible pride about my accomplishment. These are some of my most treasured memories...  Everything is a bit different in hindsight!

While my fear of heights is somewhat irrational and seems to be something I was born with, my other fear did not develop until college.  And, frankly, I experience absolutely no pride or exhilaration when forced to face it.  This fear is of lightening.  

The summer before my junior year of college, four people that I knew were struck by lightening.  Two of the people who were struck I knew very well...  Another was the mother of my roommate at the time.  The fourth person, who tragically lost his life, was the father of a college friend.  The whole experience was horrible.  Almost exactly a year before this tragedy occurred, I can remember purposefully sitting outside on a friend's porch during a storm, watching the lightening strike over the lake, feeling safe in the knowledge that being struck by lightening "couldn't happen to me" and thoroughly enjoying the experience.  Now I live with a very clear understanding that it certainly could happen to me, and I derive zero pleasure from storms.  Does it seriously impact my life?  No.  I am not a person who completely loses the ability to function at the first hint of thunder.  But at times, my fear of lightening can impact the decisions that I make.

Which brings me to today's novel experience.  Now I count on my "smart" phone to notify me of many things, and it serves me well most of the time.  However, today my phone failed me in a most profound way.  With absolutely no inkling that a monster storm was brewing and a severe weather alert had been issued for exactly where I was, I set out with my two babies and giant dog to drop my son off at daycare.  At first, there was just your typical rumbling of thunder followed by a bit of rain.  But then the sky darkened, opened up and I was suddenly driving in the most massive hail storm I have ever encountered...  and the only one I have ever been caught in.  Within two minutes the road was completely white with fallen hail and the thunder was booming around me.  When lightening struck a few hundred feet in front of me, (and exactly where I was headed), I pulled a u-turn and went home to assess the damage to my car, (thankfully, none!), and wait out the storm in the comfort of my garage.  It was a relatively warm day, and this photo was taken more than thirty minutes after the hail had fallen.

So while this photo does not do the storm justice, you can get a sense of what I was dealing with. 

The transforming power of hindsight has struck once again.  Fear has turned into awe, and I am amazed by the strange beauty of this experience and the power of mother nature.  But this is one novel experience that I definitely hope, (but seriously doubt), will remain novel for a long time!

Day Forty-Six: Binaural Beats

As the Experiment has unfolded, my novelty seeking skills have become honed and I have become much more efficient and prolific at discovering sources of novelty.  Where once I would have panicked as the clock struck 11:00 pm and I was left with one brief hour to discover and complete a novel experience, I now embrace the challenge with confidence that there is an almost endless amount of novel experiences for anyone who wishes to seek them out.  As a result of this new attitude, life seems much more exciting and filled with opportunity and wonder.  So, dear reader, let me share a few of my newfound secrets for discovering opportunities for novelty:  

Novel Experience Seeking Formula Number One:  I would consider this to be one of the best case scenarios for successful novelty seeking as the experience is meaningful, useful, and (in theory), integrates seamlessly with one's life.  When applying this novelty seeking formula, I first identify a need, desire, or goal in my life outside of this project.  These needs have varied from needing more energy, (i.e. Yoga Nidra), to addressing muscle pains, (i.e. Tea Bath), to completing home improvement projects, (i.e. Basic Wiring for Dummies).  From here, I try to find a novel way of addressing the pre-existing need or goal.  See?  The novelty just blends in with the flow of life, serves a purpose and is in no way disruptive.  Love it!

Novel Experience Seeking Formula Number Two:   I identify something that I have always wanted to try, but have not prioritized and I make it happen.  Making a cheesecake and going to the local Teppanyaki restaurant fall under this category.  I particularly revel in these novel activities as they tend to be things that I am more prone to really enjoy.  Also, the anticipation is heightened by the fact that I have procrastinated their completion for so very long, and I get the added benefit of checking something off of my mental to do list!

Novel Experience Seeking Formula Number Three:  Completely random, unplanned novelty.  Mother Nature, my friends and family, and my children tend to be a good source of this type of novelty.  Wonderful when this happens, (Usually!), but this type of novelty can not be counted on!

Novel Experience Seeking Formula Number Four:  I find inspiration in random places and plan an experience for the future.  Inspiration can be found almost everywhere!  Whether I'm briefly scanning my Facebook homepage, listening to a story told by a loved one, surfing the web, or reading advertisements in the paper, it is amazing to me how many opportunities for novelty are out there when it becomes a habit to notice them!  A friend's comment about tapping his maple trees led to a Google search and the discovery of Maine Maple Sunday.  Another friend's Facebook link and personal story led to the discovery of a fun tool on the web.   And then there are the many requests and suggestions I have received from readers and friends as this project has unfolded.  Other people's lives are a tremendous source of inspiration when you are open to moving outside of your normal comfort zone!

Novel Experience Seeking Formula Number Five:  Speaking of moving outside of your comfort zone...  I think most people have genres of activities that could be considered atypical for them.  I find that activities within these broad categories provide nearly endless opportunities for novelty, though I have sometimes had some initial resistance to stepping that far outside of my comfort zone!  For me, home improvement, anything team sports related and visual artsy or craftsy activities have in no way been part of my day to day life since I was a child.  However, talk about opportunity for novelty!  (In particular, I have discovered that anything creative by definition includes a dose of novelty!)  And, interestingly enough, I have actually enjoyed some of these activities the most!  

So there you have it!  The Novel Experience Experiment's Official List of the Top Five Ways of Discovering Novelty, (Other than a random Google search or web surfing, which can also be mighty effective, FYI!)  

Which brings me to tonight's novel experience...  Now I am a psychotherapist by trade, so one would think that most methods of working with the mind for healing purposes would at least be familiar to me.  This is a genre of experience that is incredibly well traversed!  However, while engaging in random web surfing, I came across a link for something called "binaural beats," which purported to increase focus, memory, creativity, decrease stress, pain, help you quit smoking, lose weight, etc., etc., etc....  Apparently a cure all for everything!  And, a quick scan of wikipedia confirmed that some of these claims appear to be backed by actual research!

Fearing that these free recordings would some day put me out of business, I put on my newly acquired speech to text headphones and attempted to increase my creativity by listening to this stream of background conversations and strange tones.  Really, this is an experience that has to be, well....  experienced!  It was quite interesting.  I excitedly opened up my blog, curious to see what level of brilliance might come out of me after all this prepping for increased creativity...  and had writer's block for the very first time since starting this experiment.  Looks like my career choice is safe...  for now!

And...  If you want to take my suggestions and run with them for seven days, go ahead and join the Novel Experience Challenge!  I bet you'll be glad that you did!

Day Forty-Five: Novel Experiences and Motherhood...

Before I move on to documenting the three novel events that I had today, I need to make sure that one very important fact be stated for the record:  I love being a mother.  In this blog, I have written about loving moments with my son and mindful moments with my daughter.  And these have been some of my favorite posts...  But here's a warning...  Today's post is probably going to be just a little bit different!

First, let me start by saying that today I witnessed yet another novel experience plan go wrong.  A miscommunication between myself and my husband led us to a different unexplored nature preserve than I had planned for.  As the forest path led to a small wooden walkway built on top of a bog, a stroller was not an option.  Therefore, both of my children experienced milestone novel experiences:  Liam had his first long nature walk without an optional method of transport available and Gracie had her first ever walk in the woods strapped snugly into the front pack.

Our walk to the end of the pathway went off without a hitch.  The weather was gorgeous, Liam was cooperative and excited, and Gracie calmly took her surroundings in with an air of fascination.  On our walk back to the car, I was congratulating myself for teaching my children about nature, and exercise, and novelty seeking...  and then novelty hell broke loose!

It started with Gracie blowing out her diaper in the front pack:  Novel Experience Number One.  Now, when I say blowing out, I mean blowing out.  There was baby poop EVERYWHERE, she was in full meltdown mode...  and we had left her just-in-case outfit in the car.  Thankfully, by the time this happened we were relatively close to the end of the path and shouldn't have had more than a five minute walk...  If Liam had not have chosen this very minute to start fighting us about staying on the path, which put him in full meltdown mode as well...  

So with two children screaming in cacophonous unison, one covered in her own feces, the other periodically sitting on the muddy path and refusing to move, we slowly proceeded down the pathway, passing the other hikers who had come out on this beautiful spring day in search of a peaceful walk in the woods.  

As we trudged on at a snail's pace, it became clear that my poopy little wonder was needing to eat...  now!  So, while sending up a little prayer that this would not be the moment a group of teenage boys would meet us on the path, I "pulled off" the trail to "discretely" nurse my hungry little girl...  with my son screaming for his Mama the whole time.  Breastfeeding in the woods:  Novel Experience Number Two.  

FINALLY, we made it back to the car.  There were tears to be wiped away, diapers and clothes to be changed, and cooperation to be bought with stickers.  However, eventually everyone was strapped into their seats and we were on our way to experience Novel Experience Number Three.

In hindsight, dear reader, I know that I have learned an important Mother-Of-A-Two-Year-Old lesson...  Never take your child out to a nice dinner after a day of physical activity...   even if they nap beforehand...  even if they had an immaculate track record of good restaurant behavior before they turned two...  and particularly if you have not been to said restaurant before to scope out it's child-friendliness factors.  

When we pulled into the restaurant parking lot following the 45 minute drive, we had two sleeping babies in the backseat of the car, one of whom needed to be woken up so that we could make our reservation time.  As my angelic sleeping toddler transformed himself into a fully awake little monster I knew that we were in trouble.  While he had had a normal amount of food and rest since our walk, I had not factored the amount of energy he had expended walking on his own on an uneven path for at least a mile...  Before I had fully realized what I had gotten myself into, I was carrying an exhausted two-year-old with low blood sugar through an adult-filled, quiet dining room to the table furthest from the doors.  

At this point, I knew that we were racing the clock.  More sleep was not an option so the child needed sustenance and he needed it fast...  We ordered him orange juice and held him off from his meltdown just long enough for the bread to come out.  As I was sighing with relief about the crisis narrowly averted, my husband took a "too large" piece of bread out of Liam's hands to rip it into smaller pieces...   and our son absolutely lost it.  Leading to Novel Experience Number Three:  Carrying my tantruming child out of a restaurant.  

So it was a day filled with Novel Motherhood Rites of Passage.  The poopy, blown-out diaper in the front pack with no change of clothes, breastfeeding trailside in the woods, and carrying a tantruming toddler out of a restaurant are the flip side of the coin to the first smiles, first "I Love Yous," and first giggles that I've written about before this.  But that's motherhood.  You take the bad with the good, and do your very best to meet everyone's needs and climb up the pyramid knowing that things are changing moment by moment.  Eventually, the coin flips once again, as it did for us tonight, and motherhood becomes a joyous journey of love, learning, and connection.  So, without further ado, let's get to the happy ending of our story.

After Liam calmed down outside and had a little bit more to eat he was perfectly behaved for the rest of our meal.  The food was excellent, Gracie remained asleep the entire time we were out, and Liam charmed all of the people at the surrounding tables.  Our neighbors and the waitresses even commented about how well behaved he was, (clearly there was a shift change during our mealtime!)  We all drove home feeling full and satisfied while Liam chattered on in the backseat about the events of his day.  And this mother, hearing the joy in her son's voice as he recalled the many positive parts of our "walk in woods" and marveling about the impact that this novel experience had, realized that she would not change one moment of this day if she had it to do over again.    

Day Forty-Four: The Cactus Project!

I am a lover of all things green.  I was brought up with gardens, of both the vegetable and flower varieties.  I have worked as a flower gardener at a large University.  I have rooted plants in glasses of water set on a sunny windowsill.  I have planted herb gardens in strawberry pots.  I have started seeds in starter kit "greenhouses."  I have grown vegetables in containers.  And, I have even grown lettuce hydroponically.  

One would think, given this amount of plant-related interest and experience, that I would be a pro at keeping houseplants alive.  However, if one did think this, one would be WRONG!  In my time, I have killed the hardiest of houseplants.  It's not that I have a completely brown thumb.  There have been times in my life when I have kept multiple plants alive for long periods of time.  It's just that as much as I enjoy looking at plants, I just don't seem to enjoy watering them as much!

However, this spring all of this is going to change!  This spring, I am determined to teach Liam about planting seeds, caring for plants, and harvesting vegetables.  Apparently, Grandma had the same idea as we recently received a children's gardening kit for growing tomatoes delivered to our doorstep!  So today was the day for Liam to have the novel experience of planting his first seeds!

Such an auspicious occasion deserves appropriate attire!  So I pulled on an old pair of overalls I have saved for gardening and gestating children.  Thinking that Liam would get a kick out of seeing his mother in overalls just like his, I gestured to the bib.  "Liam!  What are these?"  Without skipping a beat, Liam looked deep into my eyes and  gave his earnest answer...  "Boobies!"  Ummmm....  Right....  

Moving on, we assembled our tools and moved ourselves out to the deck.  The first step in growing tomatoes with Elmo is to add water to these expanding soil pellets.  

Here you can see my smiling boy helping to pour the correct amount of water into the bucket holding the soil pellets...  So far, so good...

Elmo's second step is to mix the soil and water with the provided tools.  Here's where things got a little ugly...

It might be hard to see here, dear reader, but there is an INTENSITY between Liam and his bucket in this picture.  This intensity had been unwavering for nearly an hour, and was punctuated by exclamations of "NO, MUM-MUM!  LIAM do it!!!!"  Now, you may remember that my dear, sweet, boy has just turned two.  Therefore, underneath his cherub-like, innocent exterior lurks a little monster just waiting for the opportunity to rear its head. 

Which brings us to the third step in growing tomatoes with Elmo...  It took some serious convincing to get him to transfer the soil to the cups...  and even more convincing to let me pick up the soil he dropped in the transfer...  As the time passed, my patience shortened and nap time approached...  I pulled out all of my tricks, but step number four, planting the seeds, finally was completed and it was time for a nap...

In this scenario, I think the fact that the kit was labeled for ages 3 and up was more to protect the parents' sanity than a reflection of any safety issue for the little one!  Frankly, I was exhausted.  

Now, originally there had been a planned phase two of Liam's Introduction to Planting that was to occur this afternoon and would double as my novel experience of the day.   However, I'll admit it!  I chickened out!  I just didn't have it in me to revisit the whole dirt/seed debacle with Liam for a second time today.  So, by the dark of night, while my little boy dreamed of soil, shovels, and spades, I pulled out the cactus seeds and soil that I had been hoarding and set to work planting.  I have no idea if the little buggers will even come up...  and if they do they will have to be kept out of reach of my grabby toddler's hands...  but I bet that even I will be able to keep these plants alive...  at least for a while!

Day Forty-Three: Look Mom! I'm Tweeting!

I LOVE my readers!  And I also REALLY love my Facebook community!  From the comments, to the discussions, to the people joining me in the Novelty Challenge, I gather a great deal of inspiration from those of you who are contributing to the dialogue about novelty!  Today's novel experience was actually a special request from a friend of mine who has contributed a great deal to this project.  (What!?  You didn't know that I take requests?!)

My friend sent me a message on Facebook asking me if I have ever Twittered. (Or tweeted?  Is that the correct vernacular?).  To which I responded that I have not.  So, with a promise that we would figure it out together, I signed The Novel Experience Experiment up for a Twitter account and sent out my very first "tweet"!

While I am still learning the basics of twitter-speak and how to use my account, I have since learned how to have my blogs automatically "tweeted" to my "followers."  I am also attempting to use my Twitter account as a way of disseminating quotes and research related to novelty seeking and happiness.  This will be different from my blog, which provides information about The Experiment; and my Facebook page, which provides a more interactive forum for discussion and inspiration.  So if you are on Twitter and want to check out what is going on over there, you can find me at NoveltyExpermnt or you can click on the button below!

Day Forty-Two: Practicing What I Preach!

So yesterday's novel experience, combined with my public display of hypocracy, has led me to make an important decision, Dear Reader...  Today I decided to practice what I preach.  It is true that I really do believe in the importance of a healthy diet to overall well being.  I also clearly know HOW people can motivate themselves to make positive dietary changes.  Yet, somewhere along the line I have lost my way.  There are a lot of factors that have taken me away from my previous life of daily yoga, minimal refined sugars, and maximum ingestion of healthy foods...  Possibly being pregnant twice in the past three years has something to do with it?  Regardless, though, I am clearly back on the sugar train and it's time to get off.

Now, let me be very clear about one thing.  I am not a believer in total deprivation or obsessing about what one eats in MOST situations.  I believe that Ben and Jerry can play a legitimate role in most people's lives.  However, the question one needs to ask oneself is what role they have been playing?  Are Ben and Jerry your acquaintance or have they become your roommate?  In my situation, it appears that they have just started leaving a toothbrush in my bathroom in preparation for Full Roommate Status.  

So, while considering how I could serve Ben and Jerry an eviction notice while simultaneously having a novel experience I made a shocking discovery...  While I am often coaching my clients with food issues to keep a food diary I have never actually done so myself.  

Now, the concept of the food diary is not so much to try to make changes as much as it is to document and analyze your current behavior.  At least, that is what we therapists tell people.  However, the reality is that the moment anyone starts measuring and documenting ANY behavior there is a natural tendency to make changes whether the goal is stated or not.  The idea of writing down the BAD behavior is never very appealing...  particularly if the information is going to be shared!

So, after downloading an appropriate app for my phone I set off to document my eating habits.  And, true to form, I ended up ingesting nothing but healthy foods all day.  Which kicked in the sugar withdrawals and cravings, BIG TIME.  Which informed me that I was WAY more addicted to sugar than I had realized.  

Now I have detoxed from sugar on more than one occasion, so I know the tricks to survive (small amounts of maple syrup), and I know what to expect, (a few days of intense sugar cravings masked as hunger and intensely low energy).  But let me tell you, Dear Reader, if you are considering cutting out sugar, refined carbohydrates, (which the body turns into sugar), and alcohol, (ditto), it can be challenging, but it is fleeting.  Stick with it and you will have more energy than you know what to do with!  When I've been completely off sugar my allergies clear up, my skin clears up, and I have an even amount of energy all day.  It's a pretty incredible feeling!

So, Ben and Jerry, it looks like this is farewell (for now).  It's not you...  it's me!  I still love you but I'm not IN love with you.  But I hope that we can still be friends...

Day Forty-One: On-Line Interview

Have you ever had the experience where all of sudden more than one out-of-the-ordinary thing from the same genre happens to you?  As you know, I continue to be on maternity leave taking care of my precious little bundle and her precocious big brother.  While I have, without a doubt been on leave in terms of income, you might also recall that there has been no lack of work for me during this time period.  So, a few days ago, after yet another work-related, time-sensitive request landed on my doorstep, I arranged for childcare for my son and dragged Gracie to my office for a fun morning of filling out forms and faxing.  

While in my office, I happened to answer my phone for the first time in months and was greeted by a reporter for the local newspaper asking if I would be willing to do a phone interview about "sexting" for an upcoming article.  While I have never dealt with the press in this capacity while being in private practice, in a previous life I have worked as the outreach coordinator of a rape and domestic violence crisis center.  So as random and bizarre as this experience was, technically it was not "novel." 

My day continued as normal following my interview...  Until I checked my work email and found yet another request for an interview.  This time the article would be on Associated Content and the topic was on healthy eating.  After reading the author's other articles and confirming her legitimacy, I agreed to be interviewed via email.  An  email interview definitely is a new experience for me, and today was the day that I completed this task...

Now, faithful readers, you might have noticed that there is a (sometimes significant), time delay between when I have an experience and when I post about said experience.  This occurs for several reasons...  First, right now my writing time is limited to when my babies are asleep at the same time.  This is a very rare event that typically only occurs late at night.  In fact, after Gracie was a few weeks old, this was my status on Facebook:  "Figured out how to care for two children:  spend all day with Liam while Gracie sleeps and all night with Gracie while Liam sleeps.  Caffeinate to stay alive."  It was a joke...  sort of!  (And clearly, the caffeinating part was dead serious!)  So, frankly when I'm a tired momma I choose sleep over writing.  It's that whole Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs thing again!  Sleep is more fundamental than blogging!  (Sorry 'bout that!)  

The other reason is simultaneously hopeful/delusional and neurotic/paranoid.  Delusional, because I am counting on the fact that I might actually get out of town and go on vacation sometime within this 365 day period despite the fact that I am going to be working imminently, have two small children who are not necessarily travel-ready, and am currently broke. Neurotic/paranoid because I don't necessarily want to broadcast that I am currently out of town for any crazy, immoral robber type, despite the fact that we always have a live-in house sitter for our 110 pound, (and quite territorial, I might add just in case any crazy, immoral robber types are reading this), dog.  So the longer the delay between the event and my postings, the longer the vacation I can take without informing the entire interweb of my current whereabouts!  

The beauty of this arrangement is that I usually have some time to reflect on my novel experiences before I write about them...  In this case, I can also show you the article that was the result of the interview referred to in this very post! And, unlike the sexting interview, an email interview was a completely stress-free process as I could choose my words very carefully and there was a much smaller possibility of being seriously misquoted!  Love that!

Overall, I was pretty pleased with my answers...  Until I realized that I had mentioned this blog in the biographical information of the interview...  and then further realized that the most recent post people would click to from my article touting the merits of healthy eating involved me admitting to eating an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream...  by myself...  and then stating that it was "better than therapy."  Ooops!

Even better, I followed this post with another one about baking a cake...  Double oops!  You know that part of the interview where I talk about sugar addiction???  Yeah, well...  Let's just say I have some first hand knowledge about that!  Of course, it was all in the name of research, right?  So I could be a better therapist?  Or blogger?  Ummmm....  Right.  To be continued...

Day Forty - The Spice of Life!

Yesterday might have been sugar, but today I've moved on to spice!  I found today's dose of novelty in the place that lurks between technology and my spice cabinet.  However, before I explain, let me give you a little preface...

When I started this project, the idea of having at least one novel experience a day for an entire year seemed incredibly overwhelming...   Impossible at times, truth be told!  In anxiety stricken moments I have continuously found myself wondering how much more novelty there could be for me to experience without travelling far afield or spending tons of money?  However, here we are at day forty!  And while it becomes easy for me to feel overwhelmed when I realize that I have three hundred and twenty-five more experiences to go, (YIKES!), from the standpoint of my day-to-day reality, this challenge has been much, MUCH easier than I had imagined.  

One of my greatest fears is that someday I will experience the "Jack and Diane" phenomenon.  I'm sure you know the John Cougar Mellencamp song...  But just in case you need your memory refreshed, how about we have a little sing along.  Let's take it from the chorus.  Ready? Here we go! "Oh yeah!  Life goes on...  Even after the thrill of living is gone.  Oh yeah, I say life goes on...  Long after the thrill of living is gone."  This is the stuff of my nightmares!  The idea of getting to a point in my life when I might completely lose my thrill of living keeps me up at night!  And to think that Jack and Diane were teenagers!  TEENAGERS!  

Thankfully, this experiment has provided me with the antidote to this dreaded fate.  Everyday that I have a novel experience, I guarantee myself at least one little thrill.  Of the forty new experiences I have had thus far, some have been fleeting or silly.  However, there are many others that have altered my day-to-day existence and I find myself continuously coming back for more!  The full impact of each experience needs to be judged over time, and I am providing updates on my Experiences page as we go along.  But what I am realizing is that there is a nearly endless amount of novelty to be experienced in life!  All a person has to do is look for and be open to the plethora of opportunities that are out there!  

The major lesson learned has been how and where to look!  While I have come across ideas from many sources, nothing has been a richer source of inspiration than Facebook.  For all the issues that Facebook creates for people and society, just glancing at the list of daily status updates from friends and acquaintances provides me with a rich variety of ideas!  From chocolate-covered bacon to bee keeping, my friends and family are turning out to be an endless font of novel experience knowledge!

So, getting back to the here and now, today's novel experience was inspired by a posted link and status update from a Facebook friend.  McCormick, of McCormick spice fame, has provided a nifty little tool for finding out just how old your spices are by entering a code from the bottom of the container into a tool on their website.  For some reason, this seemed like a fun activity for me so I took the bait, checked out their site, and gathered up all of my McCormick spices.  While most of my spices were reasonably "young," I did dig up one tin or Jamaican Ginger...  and since tins apparently were discontinued FIFTEEN years ago, it's probably time for it to be retired!  I might be a bit of a hoarder, but even I have limits!

So, in conclusion, today's experience may not have been life altering or profound, but it provided me a with a little thrill.  And if one little thrill can prevent me from becoming like Jack or Diane, I'll take it!

Day Thirty-Nine: Necklaces and Sugar Cane.

Some days, I need to work hard to insert some novelty into my days.  On others, novel experiences just blend seamlessly into the events of my day.  Today, thankfully, was the latter!  And it was a twofer, to boot!

My first novel experience was partially inspired by Amber, a loyal reader who posted the idea of giving "made" gifts on my Facebook discussion page.  You might recall the wire-wrapped sea glass pendants I had created on an earlier day of this experiment?  Well, I loved this novel experience so much that I have since upgraded the wire, bought necklace claps and string, and acquired the appropriate tools so that I could continue to turn my plethora of sea glass into jewelry.  Today provided the perfect opportunity to make a necklace for the first time and also have the semi-novel experience of giving a homemade gift...

You see, today we celebrated my dear friend Beth's birthday.  Now Beth serves as one of my inspirations for this project.  She is the friend who uses watercolors to make gorgeous homemade Holiday cards, creates her own mosaic tabletops, is a gourmet cook, grows almost anything you could imagine, and exclaims, "I could make that" while browsing in boutique home goods stores.  If you've been following this blog for a while, you might remember Beth from the Cheesecake Tasting Party?  She was the participant who brought the Coconut Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Glaze.  Enough said!  So it seemed only fitting to have a crafty novel experience in her honor...  

While I did make another wire wrapped sea glass pendant from scratch using my new materials, I'll admit that the novel part of this experience really just entailed tying store bought clasps onto the ends of a piece of leather necklace cord.  

Not very exciting...  In fact, so not exciting that I forgot to take a photograph of the finished product!  Ooops!  But here is a recycled photo of my original pendants as a substitute!

  

Please keep in mind that despite my intense focus on novelty, I do believe that practice makes perfect...  Therefore, since there are no images to betray me, just imagine the most beautiful pendant EVER!  

Getting back to reality now, before I had even finished wrapping my gift, my friend Angela showed up with a surprise second novel experience of the day:

Fresh sugar cane!  While I know that on my journeys I have had access to fresh sugar cane, this experience still passed cardinal rule of novelty number one:  I have no memory of having had the experience before.  So much so, that Angela had to teach me how to properly "eat" it...  More or less, you chew small pieces like gum and then spit the pulp out...  It's kind of a nasty process, truth be told, but boy is it tasty!  

Liam agrees!  

So, dear readers, this concludes another day of novel experiences.  Here's hoping that some positive novel experiences find their way to you, too!