Alive Again

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When was the last time you felt truly alive?

When was the last time you felt the thrill of trying something new?

Sometimes when we are stuck in fear and uncertainty, trying something new can help us to feel alive again. 

I think this is why, in the pandemic, we see people trying to bake sourdough bread for the first time, taking a rookie RV trip, and learning to knit via YouTube videos. 

We subconsciously know that we need to learn new things or do something we have never done before to feel alive.

In the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly and Paul spend a day in New York City doing new things. Holly introduces the idea to Paul, "I've got a wonderful idea. We could spend the whole day doing things we've never done before!" Here is a quick clip of this fun scene. 

We long for a sense of adventure in this life.

Even those of you who like to play it safe. You still get bored. And right now, with a cosmic pause button pushed on life as we knew it, we are all getting bored. 

We wither away if we aren't growing. Below is a list of ideas to get you started and then keep considering what else you need to feel alive again. And go do that. 


Ways to Feel Alive Again

  • Watch a sunrise and sunset on the same day

  • Handwrite a letter of gratitude to a former teacher

  • Explore generations of your family in an app like Ancestry.com 

  • Go somewhere where you are the minority 

  • Write a rhyming or haiku poem

  • Invent a new recipe 

  • Have a completely tech-free day

  • Drop off books, movies, or puzzles to a nursing home

  • Make an online donation to a charity for a cause you care about 

  • Lay a blanket in the grass and have a picnic

  • Compliment a stranger

  • Try international food you've never tried before

  • Sing a song out loud as you fill your car with gas

  • Eat an entire meal with chopsticks

  • Pay for the car behind you at a drive-thru 

  • Climb a tree

  • Speak in a foreign accent all-day

  • Watch a YouTube video on an art medium you have wanted to try

  • Learn to say thank you in five languages

  • Master a Tik Tok dance 

  • Submit a letter to the Editor 

  • Call a politician's office and express your concern 

  • Create a travel dream or vision board

  • Build something

  • Spend a day in silence

  • Watch movies in bed all-day

  • Place an anonymous gift by a neighbor's door

  • Go to a restaurant by yourself for dinner

  • Fill the house with music and dance

  • Give to someone on Kiva.com

  • Start a one-sentence-a-day journal

  • Post a book review online 

  • Write a note of appreciation to your favorite musician, author, or actor

  • Paint an abstract piece of art

  • Begin writing your memoir

  • Write a letter to yourself of admiration and gratitude

I hope just reading that list gave you a boost! Choose a few of those and make them happen. Start your own list and stretch yourself to do something new each week. 

I never ask you to do something I'm not willing to do. Saturday, I tried paddleboarding for the first time. I have watched paddleboarders in the ocean and on lakes. It was something I longed to do, but I didn't think I could balance and paddle at the same time. I had it on my when-I-lose-weight-and-feel-confident-in-my-core-strength-then-I'll-try-it list. So years have gone by with a longing to try it, yet no attempt at paddleboarding. As of Saturday, I hadn't lost weight and I wasn't confident in my core strength, but my new motto is "it is 2020, so what the hell do I have to lose?"

So I did it. And I loved every moment of it!

I smiled for the entire hour.

 
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(If you live in KC, you can rent one at the marina at Shawnee Mission Park.)

I felt alive again.

I hope you do too. 

Sending you love and peace,

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