I took my elderly parents for a woodwork class once. The three of us had never built anything from wood using our bare hands. The closest we had ever come to ‘working with wood’ was – for my mum – cutting meat/veggies on a wooden chopping board; my dad (okay maybe he’s the exception here), having been an ex-army man, building a wooden shack with his men; and for me, knocking a nail to put up a picture in a wooden frame.
So, learning to make a side table and stool from wood, and from scratch, using all sorts of modern-day tools and machinery, was totally new to all three of us.
What was amazing was the after-feeling; the joy, the confidence, the wanting to do and try other things.
According to articles, research has been done on ‘trying new things’ and the findings have proven that it is important for one’s wellbeing.
If you think about it, trying something new forces you to learn (something new) which in turn makes you ‘grow’. It helps in your ‘development’ and also gives you something new to talk about at social gatherings (or online). I try to do something ‘new’ daily. I call it ‘my experimentations’ eg. tried using lemon marmalade in my cooking; often tweak recipes; tried outdoor rock climbing recently, etc.
There are so, so many other benefits to trying new things; Google it. And while you’re at it, give this a try (pun intended) – search for the word ‘neophilia’ then Follow Hive Mind Ventures!