This months theme: Novelty in Dopamine
Novel experiences aren’t inherently going to make you happy, but this month, we’re doing things simply for that boost of dopamine.
April was a rough month.
I had a family emergency that not only took me out of state for two weeks but also out of the Novelty Experiment for an entire month of time. It was altered work, altered expectations, altered needs, and so on.
I am glad that I can drop it all and go, but it also makes me wonder about the state of the end of the project.
In the end, I only did 5 things, only 3 of which were on theme:
DanceHer- an early-evening, all women’s dance party, with an ending time that left plenty of room for a full nights sleep
Listen to a whole, new (to me) albums from stranger’s recommendations albums- I kept asking for recommendations from different people, and listened to some new, and old, bangers like Ray of Light by Madonna, Middle Child by Amma, and Honey on the Moon by Sienna Rose
Went to a bookstore event to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day
Found new parts of a recently renovated park, and explored the whole area
Had a craft and cocktails night: where we tried new desserts and cocktails from a local restaurant, and then tried some new crafting techniques (spoiler: the art did not turn out well)
We are not on track for those 100 novel experiences, even before this month really changed things. And I don’t want this to be something I do simply because I’m forcing myself to do it. But that’s what it’s starting to feel like. The planning gets away from me, the execution gets shifted, life gets in the way.
