31 Days of Experiencing New Things – Day 1 & 2
Yesterday, I was on Facebook, scanning my stream, noticing that Sandi Krakowski was unplugging from all things Internet for the long 4th of July weekend, and Paul Rakov was still listening to the Grateful Dead (when will he ever learn?), when I saw this link under the Events column on the right “31 Days of Experiencing New Things.” And, as I am known to do at times, I clicked on it.
Seems a colleague of mine, Stacy Brice, has been offering different 30 day and 31 day projects, all of them fun or inspiring. June’s project was 30 days of deepening friendships. But July’s project is 31 Days of Experiencing New Things, and for some reason, it spoke to me. I signed up, and I am committed to doing something new every day for the month of July.
Yesterday, which was Day One for me, since I started a day late, I went to the Bear Mountain Zoo, a small zoo in Bear Mountain State Park that consists of animals that have been 
injured or rescued. I especially loved the owls, the hawks and… the turtles! Oh, and the porcupines! I’d never seen a porcupine in the prickley flesh before, and they are big! And bumbling, and very sweet.
Today, Day Two, I met a friend of a friend who lives in Accord. While we’ve emailed each other a few times since I moved here to Kingston (she lives in Accord), I’d never met her face to face. So, this morning at the Kingston Farmer’s Market, we met and talked in the new patio next to Maxwell’s Pizza on North Front St. as we watched people buy organic vegetables and other goodies. It was lovely!
When I first moved to Kingston, I swore I was going to take time to explore, visit the surrounding towns and sights, and get to know this strange new place. But I haven’t done it. At least, not in the way I thought I would. I’ve been so busy with work and life and love and settling into a new place that my adventures have been mostly limited to New York City. But with this new 31 Day project, I’m determined to get out of the house and… experience new things! How fun!
I’ll be reporting on my adventures here at NancyOutLoud.
What about you? Do you want to join me? Sure, it’s July 3 already, but hop in and commit to experiencing something new every day this month. It can be something simple, like calling someone on the phone rather than emailing them. Or trying a new kind of tea or coffee. It doesn’t have to be a big production or take a lot of time.
If you interested, join the project on Facebook or at the 31 Day site. And let me know what new things you’re doing!
1Ann e. King
wrote on 3 July 2010 at 18:49
Hey Nancy,
I decided to climb aboard this train when I saw your post on Facebook. What fun!
Yesterday, my Day One, I got out of bed at around midnight because I couldn’t sleep. (This technically makes this a Saturday adventure, but I was still in Friday mode so I’m bending rules, as usual.) I sat in my front room in the dark and watched the daisies and lilies in my garden sway back and forth in the breeze. And then inspiration hit. I wrapped myself up in some warm clothes, walked out into my back yard and climbed into my hammock. To the right, I could see the moon rising; to the left, the Big Dipper was spectacular and perfectly placed in the only open sky visible through the trees. I stayed there until nearly 1 a.m. Ordinarily, thoughts of scary night critters or creepy ne’er-do-wells would have kept me in the house. This night in all its glory was mine, and I’m so glad I stepped into it.
Today, Day Two, I accepted an invitation to spend the day at a friend’s cottage in Northeast Wisconsin. When I was offered a ride behind the boat in a two-person rubber raft, I agreed to do it even though I have some trepidation about close contact with large bodies of deep water. But I was assured that we would go slow and besides, the raft has a back rest and padded seats. I discovered very quickly that people can have radically different interpretations of the word “slow.” The waves were choppy, and the raft wasn’t rigged correctly, and we ended up swamping more than once. There were quite a few YouTube moments and more than a few laughs. When I realized that conditions weren’t going to get better, I signaled the boat driver to bring me in. Safely planted on a bow seat, I watched with delight as my friends grinned ear-to-ear and laughed out loud as the now-corrected raft flew across the water and the wake and gave them the kind of ride that water lovers live for.
But I’m glad I did it. My experience provided lots of fodder for one-liners. And, it was a fun, fun, super fun day!
2Nancy
wrote on 4 July 2010 at 12:12
Yay, Ann! You literally jumped in the water on this one! I especially loved your description of the night in your hammock. I’m at a loss about what NEW thing I can experience today, but I’m letting it present itself.
Let me know about your new experience today!