Anonymous asks: Recently I have been wanting to do something new. So I was thinking about getting a new piercing but I’m not allowed as I am still quite young. So what else can I do to do something new? Got any suggestions? Thanks Anonymous
Hi Anonymous –
I LOVE THIS QUESTION!
It’s not that easy to answer, but I love it! Because it’s so the opposite of what I’m usually hearing from humans (of all ages) – “Oh my life is dreary, there’s nothing to do about it, I’ll just watch more TV because there’s no way there’s anything else to do.”
I hate getting shots, so the idea of a piercing just sounds awful to me. But that doesn’t mean you’re wrong to want one – it’s just something I’d never choose (if I’m going to take a chance on my skin getting pierced, I’d rather do it by chasing that stinky cat from down the street and seeing who wins when we connect!).
So here’s the simple truth – I don’t know you well enough to answer your question. Because the real answer to “what can I do to do something new” is anything you haven’t been doing!
Now for me, after years of sniffing trees, chasing squirrels, covering Handsome in kisses, and barking at strangers, it was a very new thing to start this website. But I know people, like my friend Sherice (my website’s designer), who start websites all the time. Now maybe it’d be a new thing for Sherice to chase a squirrel, or bark at a stranger. I know it’d be a very new thing for her to cover Handsome in kisses, but I think her husband wouldn’t like it very much so I wouldn’t recommend it! But you get the idea.
So what’s your normal day like? School and talking to friends and doing homework and getting a little annoyed with your family? Okay, nothing wrong with that. But what if you added something to that? Say… learned to play a musical instrument? Started swimming? Volunteered for some cause for a couple of hours a week? Learned to paint or draw beautifully?
Now you might notice, all of those are “self-improvement” ideas. They’re about doing something, and not about changing your physical self the way a piercing would be. But you could also do some of those things – you just need to make sure that what you do is temporary, when you’re young. But there are so many choices still – you could dye your hair another color, or cut it in some really interesting way. You can do some amazing art on your fingernails or toenails. And you can get a temporary tattoo – or what I think is especially amazing, get one of those henna tattoos that some cultures have been doing for centuries, and are SOOOOOO amazing.
And you know another idea I really love? Do you have the ability, where you live, to take a class in Improvisation Comedy? This is so fun, both to do and to watch, but also it literally strengthens your mind to keep finding new possibilities all the time. So the next time you are looking for something new, you’ll instantly think of ten ideas, some of them ridiculous (send your school principal an anonymous love letter, paint your parents’ car without asking them first, stand on a roof and howl at the moon), and some of them really intelli…
Wait…
You know, I actually like that howling-on-the-roof idea. I think I’m going to do it right now. Wish me luck with Handsome’s ladder!
HAVE FUN!
Shirelle