In Pursuit of New Experiences | JAMIE
"Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jamie is conducting a simple experiment on herself: Have a new experience every day. This is what she calls her “homework”. Learning and self-discovery have become central to her life in recent years; trying something new every day keeps her perspective fresh as well as helps her tune in to potential new pursuits and passions.
When Jamie first told me about her experiment of new experiences, I was awestruck by the range of “new experiences” she described. A quick look at her Facebook page revealed even more of her various practice exercises:
Learning to play the cello
Hiking in Switzerland
Taking a class in oil painting
Skiing in Japan
Learning photography
Trying new foods in Bhutan
Walking in the tall, primeval Cedar forest and listening to nature’s Symphonic Music
Watching Wimbledon on TV
Enjoying a cappuccino between two typhoons
Not all of her experiments have been joyous; however, she does not discount the value of the experience. Spending a day sick at home and changing a flat tire on her car were unplanned “new experiences”. Nevertheless, she is able to see the challenges through a more positive lens when she frames them as part of her daily experiments.
Jamie describes the approach to her exercise like this:
“Try to have a new experience every day that you have never had before. If you feel this experience can open up your sense with joys, do it more times to enhance this new sensation. If not, try something else.”
“Most of time we follow our ‘inertia’ which is built from past experiences and might not be even from our own choices. So that, by having new experiences we can let ourselves explore more “possibilities” or “opportunities” before our ‘inertia’ or others make choices for us among the uncertainties of life. By knowing lots of options we like, we can create/shape our life in the way we want with meaning and joy.”
“Thus, we become aware of what we truly want or wish for. We stay in a state of being with steady focus. And energy will flow into what we focus on.”
Jamie lives in Hsinchu, Taiwan. She works in HR for a global high-tech company. She loves her family, her cats, inspiring others, and---obviously—trying new things.
