Try Something New - Break a Mold, Have an Adventure

As complex as our society has become, I am convinced that people who break out of molds are still considered completely strange, possibly fantastic (in the traditional sense of the word, coming from the root fantasy).  Despite all the different things we are able to do and be, humans have the tendency to put each other into boxes, and allow themselves to stay within them.  So when a person decides they won't be categorized, people can become shocked and frustrated, or they can have a whole new world open to them.

I am thinking particularly of the relatively simple juxtaposition of someone who likes art and football, or fashion and reading the Times.  These things are oppositional by all accounts to our society, but of course, there are people who like to do each set of things, and some who like all four (I'm thinking of myself...strange bird that I am). The more I interact with people, the more rare it is for me to find someone who enjoys multiple types of things, or who is at least willing to entertain something outside their own cultural sphere.

What does it matter? Why push one's self to read a reliable news source while at other times contemplating the far reaching impact of teal on Jimmy Choo?  Well, the less easy it is for someone to put you in a box, the more fun it is for everyone.  Necessarily you run into more kinds of people than you are likely to if you only race RC cars than if you also watch ballet.  You increase your likelihood of adventures, which is always enjoyable for you, and tends to lend some excitement to your varied group of friends.

In this world, it is easy to have varied interests.  Now you can access almost anything from almost anywhere (as long as you can pay for shipping to more remote locations in the worst case). However, it is just as easy to keep yourself in a rut.  You could do the same thing day in and day out, and your life would never get more exciting.  It would never change.  You would continue to read the same books, eat the same cereal, and wear the same bland dress clothes.  It would be predictable.  So isn't it better to change things up? Isn't it better to try something new and experiment with different interests when there is really nothing stopping you from taking a dance class or learning mountaineering?

It's better to try it rather than not.  What can you lose? At the very worst you have a story of adventure.  At the best, you open a new door to all kinds of wonderful things.  It sounds like a win to me.