Get Young Again - Try a new thing for the pure joy of it

When did you last do something new, just for the joy of it? I recently realised ​that there's a very rewarding kind of release in trying something new  "just because", and it's simpler to achieve than it sounds.

At the end of the September I spent a splendid week on the Dorset coast, and I took two simple projects. One was a small cheap weaving loom, which was purchased because "That looks like something different to try". The second project was hand hemming a silk scarf, which built on my existing sewing skills to create an accessory for a specific outfit.

​In the evenings we listened to the audiobook of J. Michael Straczynski's autobiography, Becoming Superman. Towards the end he talks about doing what gives you joy in life, and I recognised that was the feeling I'd steeped myself in with my two projects. A deep, quiet delight, with occasional highlights of "nailed it!" when I got a tricky bit right, or a patient repetitive bit completed.

Oddly, although I'm prouder of my silk scarf, it's the wonky loom woven thing which gave me the most joy. "What are you making?" "A thing." "OK... What's it for?" "I've no idea...". The instructions were vague, I did no research, I made up a pattern as I went, and totally winged some of the details. I also had no end purpose for the thing. There were no pressures, no expectations. Just making a thing, just because I could.

As kids we often do stuff just because we can. "I made this! It's a thing!". As we grow up, we're increasingly funnelled. You're told to pick a few skills and hone them, so that they serve purposes. This skill is my job, these two skills are my hobbies. New skills are usually only learned to serve functional purposes, or as additions to existing skill sets. Likewise, we create things for a purpose; either as a part of refining skills, or to use the end result.

This past year I've tried quite a few new things. Shrink plastic, infused gin, ceramics. But my wonky loom woven thing took me back to the childlike joy of doing something purely to enjoy doing it - not testing a product concept, not making a gift, not making for a fixed purpose, just trying something because I could.

If you want to raise yourself up a bit, try doing a new thing without expectations, however simple. Fold an origami pattern. Boogie along to a youtube tutorial of street dance steps. Draw one of the items on your desk. Don't worry about if you'll muck it up, or if you'll have a functional end result, or if you'll never do it again afterward - own the joy of your journey, relish your childlike pride in having tried something new.

Fun fact

When I ran a Facebook poll, 88% of respondents said they HAD tried something new in the past year!