My birthday exercises began as a rather vague idea. The idea pricked the back of my mind with a sense of obligation and niggled at me there. I should, I reckoned, take on something momentous to commemorate my thirty years. I had an uneasy worry that I would let my birthday go by without noting it and making it noted, really living it and being present to it — and, worst of all, without live-tweeting it.
In the past month, though, just as my expectations about my birthday itself have become more positive, so have my expectations about my birthday adventure. They've also started to become more concrete. In early September, my plans for my birthday challenge were pretty simple: "Do one new thing each day." With more excited reflection, I've began to understand what I hope to gain from the challenges and to recognize some common themes.
"Doing one new thing each day" doesn't stop at having fun, while that is part of the equation. Trying something new each day will mean pushing boundaries and stepping out of my comfort zone. By doing so I'll learn new things and, perhaps more importantly, examine why my boundaries exist where they do. What experiences and relationships am I missing out on by holding back too much, and where do I need to hold fast?
I'll also examine my opinions and assumptions. As I've made a list of the new experiences I hope to undertake, some clear themes have emerged: food, cuisines, and food justice; spirituality and religious experience; art and photography; global New York. I hope that my new experiences in these topics that are close to my heart will challenge my knee-jerk responses.
Some of the challenges will be difficult; some time-consuming; some simple. Some will require a map and some will be accomplished at home or in my neighborhood. Best of all, some of them (many of them?) will be free!
My challenges will be revealed each day, so if you want to find out what they are, keep reading!
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