March 19, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode of "Enthusiastic Encouragement and Dubious Advice," Patricia and Nicole discuss the importance of novelty and trying new experiences to enhance quality of life. They share personal anecdotes about exploring new foods, stores, and activities while acknowledging the privilege and accessibility that can impact one's ability to do so. The episode concludes with the hosts reflecting on their recent joys, including reconnecting with old friends and the satisfaction of sending out thoughtful mail.
Also, correction: Patricia mentions we are coming up on the one-year anniversary of her mother’s passing. It has actually been two years.
Mentioned on the show:
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Bookshop Affiliate Storefront (links below are affiliate)
-
Become a patron! Patreon.com/eedapod
-
Subscribe to the ongoing Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice Newsletter
-
Corporate DEI Policy Tracker http://bit.ly/corpdei
-
Triple Sec: A Novel by TJ Alexander
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EEDA Pod Episode: “[Verb] Like There’s Nobody Watching” (site | Apple | Spotify)
Find the full show notes and official transcript on our website: eedapod.com
Follow the show on Instagram & find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, & Spotify
Sound editing by Jen Zink
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[Intro Music]
(00:15):
Hey there, fruit snacks!
Welcome to Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice, the podcast for
folks who would rather curl intothe fetal position than lean in.
I'm your host, Patricia Elzie-Tuttle.
And I really want you to get vaccinatedfor measles if you never have!
I'm Nicole Elzie-Tuttle.
We're recording thisshow on March 15th, 2025.
(00:36):
Speaking of measles vaccine, since thathappened for me when I was very, like,
before my memory really caught in, mydoctor was able to run a panel for me
to see if I still had immunity, so.
Oh, yeah, if you have a doctor that'll
do that and check, especially if youlive in one of the twenty-two states
(00:58):
mmm
that currently are being affectedby the new outbreak of measles.
Yeah, ask your doctor if you have one.
Ask your doctor if you have one and ifyou should get a new measles vaccine.
So, March 15th, it is fiveyears since the first lockdown.
Really kind of marking thestart of the COVID pandemic
(01:21):
that we are still experiencing.
Still experiencing, peopleare still dying from COVID.
We were just talking, those firstcouple of years were just a blur.
Yeah.
Just a blur.
And it really actually takes,like, my photos to, like,
give me memories of that time.
I'm like, oh, we did that,oh, we, oh, that happened.
(01:42):
Such a weird time.
Yeah.
Such a weird time.
Also, this show is publishing on March19th, and March 20th is Spring Equinox
in the Northern Hemisphere, AutumnEquinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
Oh, so the calendar's finallycatching up with, like, the seasons?
(02:02):
Stop.
The season, it's been pouring andit's been so frigid cold here.
Yeah, it's the start of spring.
Oh my gosh.
Spring showers.
Spring showers.
I posted our favorite nursery here inthe East Bay, it's over in Berkeley.
During the like spring and summermonths, they have a local kind of hot
(02:28):
dog sausage place like set up a grill.
And so you could go to the nursery andget, like, sausage and also plants.
It's like, not just like,sausage, like, you could get like,
Like lemon garlic chicken sausage, like,
Yeah.
Yeah.
Apple sausage, like, you couldget some nice, like, I don't know,
spring and summer flavored sausage?
(02:51):
But I'm like, oh yes, that's spring whenI could get a sausage at the nursery.
Yeah.
This is also the lastepisode before my birthday.
My birthday is April Fool's Day.
You can leave me a gift like areview, which would be amazing,
and share our podcast far and wide.
(03:13):
We're doing something great formy birthday, which we will share
after we do it for safety reasons.
But yeah, I've alwaysbeen one of those people.
I'm like, you know what, weget one day to just celebrate
ourselves and I will celebrate mybirthday until the end of time, so.
And also it's April Fool'sDay, which honestly I kind of
(03:34):
love that that's my birthday.
It is very on brand.
Like, very on brand.
Every time I tell someone that'smy birthday, they're like,
ah, yeah, that makes sense.
It's either going to beApril 1st or Halloween, so.
Halloween's not your mid unbirthday.
No, October 1st would be my
mid unbirthday.
(03:55):
My half birthday.
Oh, speaking of gifts that youcould give us, we have a Patreon.
And we would love itif you sign up for it.
It is at patreon.com/eedapod.
Yeah, and then also on our website wehave a link to our bookshop affiliate
site where you can shop all the bookswe have mentioned in this show and
(04:16):
also books I've mentioned in theEnthusiastic Encouragement and Dubious
Advice newsletter, and we get a littlekickback if you shop through our link.
It's a great place to buygifts for other people.
For other people, yeah, because they'reusually books we've read already, so.
[Transition Music]
(04:42):
So.
I was talking with a colleagueabout boycotting companies that
have dumped their DEI programs.
Like us, she got a Costco card.
Costco is one of the companies thathas doubled down on their dedication
to DEI, so we are big Costco fans now.
In past issues of the EnthusiasticEncouragement and Dubious Advice
(05:05):
newsletter, I've shared a tracker forwhich companies have confirmed their
commitment to DEI, and which companieshave shuttered their DEI programs.
I will link it in the show notes so thatyou have easy access to it, so that you
can easily have something to reference.
The thing is, we're only two people,and Costco often sells things in
(05:28):
quantities or volume that is waymore than needed for two people.
Or that we could store,that we have space for.
Oh my gosh, like paper towelscome in like a hundred rolls.
I don't have a smallwarehouse for paper towels.
So what we've done is we've offered toour friends to split the cost of these
(05:50):
items and also split the items, and thatway we all get to share the discounts.
Yeah!
My colleague and I were agreeing thatthe experience of looking for new
sources of Items and doing thingsin a new way is actually fun for us.
I realize it's not the same foreveryone, but stick with me here.
(06:11):
It's definitely easier if yourefer to the tracker that I'm
going to share in the show notes.
But for me, it's like, it's usinga different area of my brain.
It feels like solving a puzzle.
Yeah.
I kind of stumbled into thisthe other day when I was looking
for some new saline spray.
We use NeilMed's piercing spray tohelp clean out our nose piercings.
(06:34):
And for the last, like, year orso, we've been buying it on Amazon.
And we're trying to move away from that.
So I thought to myself, hey, doesthis company have a website with a
storefront on it that I could buythis product directly from them?
And it turns out they do.
NeilMed has their own website store.
(06:55):
And what we learned is that it's theexact same price there as it is on Amazon.
If you spend over $30, then youget free shipping, and it still
came to us in like, two days.
It was still super fast!
Yeah!
So, like, it was the same price,and that means the company gets
to keep all their profit on that.
And we didn't give anymoney to Jeff Bezos.
(07:17):
There you go.
All this to get to thethesis of today's show.
Doing new things improves our qualityof life, and it may do the same for you.
We're going to share a range of waysto fit novelty into your everyday.
I was really hoping that at this point inthe show, I could take a little time and
dazzle you all with science by talkingabout novelty and neurons and dopamine.
(07:43):
But, I spent over an hour, like,digging into the literature and reading
academic articles and all I'm leftwith is like a handful of non-academic
articles that don't cite their sourcesand a really profound sense that I
do not know enough about neuroscienceto be sure that I would be providing
(08:06):
you all with accurate information.
So instead, we're going to talkabout our own personal experience
and share how that has helped us.
We want to talk about trying newthings and how that can fill your cup.
And before we get into that, I wantto use this moment to say it's really
important to us that we can citesources if we said something like
(08:29):
trying new things is healthy for you.
Like we want to be able to cite oursources on that if there are any.
And so that's why Nicole tookall that time to do something.
And that's how we've kind of changedour thesis and made it more personal.
You know, a lot of those articlesyou were saying that you found, not
the academic journal articles, butjust like the blog posts and stuff.
(08:52):
As you said, they didn't citetheir sources, and so they're
just kind of saying things
yeah
without actually beinggrounded in research.
And so much self helpout there is like that.
They just say the wildest things withouttelling you where they're getting this
information, and this is somethingthat I feel really sets us apart.
(09:15):
This is why we're making it very clearthat today's episode comes from a place
of personal experience in the hopesthat that resonates with some of you.
I first want to recognize thateven mundane forms of novelty
can often be only available withcertain amounts of privilege, right?
Once I decided I wanted to do something alittle fancy with our walking route around
(09:39):
the neighborhood and, like, go arounda different block, and that was only
possible because we could afford the extratime it would take, that we had access to
a walkable area with variations, and thatthe terrain was safe and manageable and
accessible to us on this different route.
That being said, in doing this we wererewarded on that walk by finding something
(10:03):
that neither of us had seen before.
A giant dandelion.
It was like two feet tall.
Yeah, literally, there is a wholedifferent species of dandelions,
or family of dandelions, I don'tknow, called giant dandelions.
They're huge.
We did not know they even existed,and by taking this different route,
now we do, and it was very exciting.
(10:24):
It was pretty cool.
To us.
Yeah.
Um, similarly though, going somewherenew for dinner is dependent on budget and
time and transportation and accessibility.
And even if you want to try makingsomething new for dinner, that's dependent
on money to buy different groceries andadditional spell slots to try and find the
(10:46):
recipe and then spend the time to make it.
And then being able to eat somethingelse if what you made didn't turn out.
I think a lot of advice getsthrown out there, like, try new
foods, like, like it's all easy.
And so I'd just like us to say thatwe recognize that your mileage may
vary with any of the advice we give.
(11:08):
Is that why the advice is dubious?
Maybe.
Huh.
A common misconception about noveltyor finding something new to try is
that it needs to be new to everyone.
Universally.
Which is a really hard thing to do,unless you are one of those scientists
(11:31):
that takes those submarines downinto the deep parts of the ocean.
When we're talking about tryingsomething new, what we mean
is try something new to you.
Watching a movie.
that is decades old, can definitely fallinto this if you've never seen it before.
We tried Haitian foodwith a friend recently.
(11:52):
Now, clearly, Haitian food is nota brand new thing to the world.
But it was our first time tryingit, and so it was new to us.
And it was delicious.
Yeah, we had griot?
Maybe.
Yeah, they were littlefried pieces of pork.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.
(12:12):
I really liked it.
One of the ways we enjoy slippingsome novelty in our lives is going
to new locations of a store wewere planning on going to anyway.
We've explored new to us gardencenters, new to us Costco locations.
The Costco we went to a couple weeksago sold caviar, which is not my
(12:34):
thing at all, but I don't recallseeing that at our usual Costco.
Again, your mileage may vary on thisone, and we recognize that this is one
of the many privileges afforded to usby living in a major metropolitan area.
The idea of doing this might also beincredibly anxiety inducing for some
(12:54):
people, and sometimes it is for us.
We'll definitely go to a new Costco, butgoing to a new Safeway for groceries?
Absolutely not!
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no.
My OCD has dictated what ourprimary grocery store is.
The Safeway we go to feels right,and the other ones feel wrong.
(13:17):
And no, I cannot explain.
I can.
We're there for a very specificperson, purpose, not a person.
That'd be weird.
That'd be weird.
And we know how to navigate that storeand exactly what it is we want to purchase
that is sold at that particular store.
Costcos on the other hand, we'reoften not there for like, very
(13:40):
specific, like, everything weneed to eat for the next week.
It's often one or two things, maybewe're looking to see if they carry a
specific item, or maybe, you know, weneed some laundry detergent and, I don't
know, 300 boxes of tissue or something.
It's a lot lower stakes.
And when we're talking about,like, novelty that'll still have
(14:02):
an impact, we're really looking forthese, like, lower stakes things.
This could also mean that if youare a reader, like us, trying a new
genre, and yes, I know many of ushave our comfort genres, like romance
or sci fi, you could even try, youknow, new tropes within those things.
(14:22):
I'm definitely not advocatingstopping reading what you love.
It could just feel good to slip intosomething new once in a while and maybe
expand that circle of things you enjoy.
Yeah, I'm actually trying a new,like, a book with a new romance
trope that I've not read before.
(14:43):
It's a poly romance, and I've neverread a poly romance book before.
Yeah, it's, uh, TripleSec by TJ Alexander.
Mm hmm.
And part of it is, I trust this author.
I like TJ Alexander's otherbooks, and so I'm giving it a go.
And it's kind of fun because I knowoverall where it's going, but I don't
know how we're getting there becausethere's extra people in the mix.
(15:06):
I don't know what's gonna happen.
I kind of love that.
That sounds hilarious.
Yeah.
People also have their comfortshows, and this applies to that too.
Now what we're starting to brushup against here is using novelty to
help you move out of your comfortzone and into a kind of growth zone.
(15:28):
And if that's something you wantto hear more about, we recommend
going back and listening to ourepisode from March 20th, 2024 called
[Verb] Like There's Nobody Watching.
Literally our episode from one year ago.
Yeah.
Sometimes, something I don't doenough, and that I want to do
more of, is listen to new music.
(15:49):
Last year, a friend did a year of newalbums, 52 albums in 52 weeks, and
I found that really inspirational.
Oh, and going back to new food, itdoesn't have to be a whole meal.
We get a lot of mileage out of tryingnew snacks or new tea, or new fruit.
(16:10):
We should really, one, dolike new music every week.
We've got so much new music just sittingon our shelf in the form of records.
We do.
But also, along the lines of liketrying new snacks or tea or new
fruits, we've also gotten a lot outof, like, trying new seasonings.
New season... like, new seasoning mixes,
yeah.
(16:30):
And just using them on somethingsimple, like scrambled eggs.
Yeah, and it's ended up finding,like, my new favorite things.
Yeah.
This next one, however, is eitherexciting or terrifying for new listeners.
And this is hanging out with new people.
Like, emotionally, spiritually,I want to be really stubborn and
(16:54):
say, like, we have enough friends.
But, in all honesty, we've actuallymade some great new friends in
the past year, and I've beenenjoying hanging out with them.
Our more established friends are alsogreat, of course, and we actually
introduced your friend to the restof our friend group, and usually
(17:15):
that's something I feel reallynervous about, but it was so good.
Yeah, everyone had a great time,and there was this really fantastic
knowledge exchange of things that wedefinitely can't talk about on this
show, but there were a lot of laughs.
Yeah, that was I learned so much that day.
(17:39):
Again, your mileage mayvary with any of this.
Trying new things is just somethingthat we try to fit in occasionally,
and it helps break up themonotony and improves our moods.
You know, I just thought of something,and it's silly, but just like going
and walking around a different park.
Literally, yeah.
We've done that multiple times.
Absolutely.
(17:59):
And it's been really enjoyable.
mm hmm
[Transition Music]
So we talked a lot about tryingnew things and how we find
joy in this and everything.
What, what's the key takeaway youwant people to bring home from this?
(18:20):
I really want people to, it can beintimidating, and I really want people
to take away that new experiencesand trying new things doesn't always
have to be expensive or complicated.
How about you?
Yeah, I'm, I'm just gonna followright on your heels with this one.
You can introduce novelty in small ways.
(18:43):
Like, taking a slightly different route,or a different version of a side dish.
It can be that simple, and itjust, I don't know, I enjoy it.
Aside from introducing new thingsin your life, Patricia, what has
been filling your cup lately?
We had one of my longtimefriends come over.
(19:05):
This year, I think marks 28 yearsof knowing each other, we've known
each other since we were teenagers.
And there is something very specialabout still being friends with
someone you've known since youwere, I think I was 18, she was 16.
And, you know, she knew my mom,we're coming up on one year of my mom
(19:28):
passing away, and she was there for us.
And, but also, like, I know her mom,and I'm friends with her sister,
and, you know, over the years, we'vejust, like, grown together, you know,
I went and visited her when she wasstudying abroad in Italy, and I'm
the one who convinced her to eventake Italian in the first place, and.
(19:49):
I don't know.
It's just very special.
It's just very special.
You know, it's, when you've known someonefor that long, it's almost past the point
of friends and that is, that is family.
She's family.
So I don't know.
I'm still riding very high off ofthat because I just love her so much.
Nicole, what is filling your cup?
I finally sent mail, and not just likea postcard, which, nothing wrong with
(20:14):
sending postcards, but I sent letterson nice stationery, and I included
pictures that I'd taken, and used oneof my nice fountain pens with one of
my favorite inks, and just, I did awhole thing of mail, like, several
of them, and it felt really good.
And then for like several daysafter, I've been kind of obsessed
(20:38):
with wanting to send more mail.
And that's what I thinkabout in the evening.
And you also included someof your pressed flowers.
Oh, I did.
Yeah.
I knew there was something else I, Iincluded on that, but it's Saturday
morning and I'm still kind of sleepy.
Yeah, I, I have my pressed flowers thatfrom last year's flowers that we grew.
(20:58):
So I, I also incorporatedthose into the mail as well.
It felt really good.
It's, it's like a combination of like,reaching out and communicating, but
also being kind of slightly crafty.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just been really nice.
Well, that's our show for today.
We'd like to thank our awesomeaudio editor, Jen Zink.
You can find her at loopdilou.com.
(21:20):
We'll leave a link tothat in our show notes.
You can find the full show notesand transcript at eedapod.com.
That's E E D A P O D dot com.
There, you can also find a link to ourPatreon, our bookshop link, and a link
to the ongoing Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice newsletter.
You can also find us on Instagramand BlueSky at eedapod and
(21:42):
email us at eedapod@gmail.com.
We are nothing if not consistent.
We would also appreciate it so muchif you would subscribe and rate us on
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever youget your podcasts that allow ratings.
Also, just like, I don't know, shareus and rate us on social media.
(22:03):
Share a post that's like,I love this podcast.
It's great.
You all should listen to it.
That also helps other people find us.
We would also appreciate anyonewho can subscribe to us on Patreon.
Support is going to help us keep thisshow going, especially without ads.
You can find us at patreon.com/eedapod.
In the meantime.
(22:24):
We hope you find ways tobe kind to yourself, drink
some water, and read a book.
We'll be talking to you soon.
When you were teenagers, was thatthe 1900s when phones were still
plugged into the wall via cords?
You're terrible.
I mean, I was a teenager then too, so.
(22:44):
The Song of the Summer was PrettyFly for a White Guy when we met.
Oh, that was by The Offspring.
The Offspring.
Yeah.
yeah
That was interestinglynot their first hit.
No, it wasn't.
And also Kevin Smith movies were abig thing, like Snoochie Boochies.
Oh, yeah.
Kevin Smith movies.
Yep.
Like Mallrats and Chasing Amy.
(23:06):
Clerks.
Clerks.
Clerks was the first one.
Yeah.
And then Dogma, which like for yearsyou could not get a copy of anywhere.
Jay and Silent Bob.
Jay and Silent Bob.
Yeah.
Who featured prominentlyin many of these movies.
Yep.
Wow.
Hi, everyone.
We're old.
[Laughing]
(23:26):
Welcome back to the 1900s.
Uh, nostalgia hour.
Bleh.
[Laughing]
[Intro Music]
(00:15):
Hey there, fruit snacks!
Welcome to Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice, the podcast for
folks who would rather curl intothe fetal position than lean in.
I'm your host, Patricia Elzie-Tuttle.
And I really want you to get vaccinatedfor measles if you never have!
I'm Nicole Elzie-Tuttle.
We're recording thisshow on March 15th, 2025.
(00:36):
Speaking of measles vaccine, since thathappened for me when I was very, like,
before my memory really caught in, mydoctor was able to run a panel for me
to see if I still had immunity, so.
Oh, yeah, if you have a doctor that'll
do that and check, especially if youlive in one of the twenty-two states
(00:58):
mmm
that currently are being affectedby the new outbreak of measles.
Yeah, ask your doctor if you have one.
Ask your doctor if you have one and ifyou should get a new measles vaccine.
So, March 15th, it is fiveyears since the first lockdown.
Really kind of marking thestart of the COVID pandemic
(01:21):
that we are still experiencing.
Still experiencing, peopleare still dying from COVID.
We were just talking, those firstcouple of years were just a blur.
Yeah.
Just a blur.
And it really actually takes,like, my photos to, like,
give me memories of that time.
I'm like, oh, we did that,oh, we, oh, that happened.
(01:42):
Such a weird time.
Yeah.
Such a weird time.
Also, this show is publishing on March19th, and March 20th is Spring Equinox
in the Northern Hemisphere, AutumnEquinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
Oh, so the calendar's finallycatching up with, like, the seasons?
(02:02):
Stop.
The season, it's been pouring andit's been so frigid cold here.
Yeah, it's the start of spring.
Oh my gosh.
Spring showers.
Spring showers.
I posted our favorite nursery here inthe East Bay, it's over in Berkeley.
During the like spring and summermonths, they have a local kind of hot
(02:28):
dog sausage place like set up a grill.
And so you could go to the nursery andget, like, sausage and also plants.
It's like, not just like,sausage, like, you could get like,
Like lemon garlic chicken sausage, like,
Yeah.
Yeah.
Apple sausage, like, you couldget some nice, like, I don't know,
spring and summer flavored sausage?
(02:51):
But I'm like, oh yes, that's spring whenI could get a sausage at the nursery.
Yeah.
This is also the lastepisode before my birthday.
My birthday is April Fool's Day.
You can leave me a gift like areview, which would be amazing,
and share our podcast far and wide.
(03:13):
We're doing something great formy birthday, which we will share
after we do it for safety reasons.
But yeah, I've alwaysbeen one of those people.
I'm like, you know what, weget one day to just celebrate
ourselves and I will celebrate mybirthday until the end of time, so.
And also it's April Fool'sDay, which honestly I kind of
(03:34):
love that that's my birthday.
It is very on brand.
Like, very on brand.
Every time I tell someone that'smy birthday, they're like,
ah, yeah, that makes sense.
It's either going to beApril 1st or Halloween, so.
Halloween's not your mid unbirthday.
No, October 1st would be my
mid unbirthday.
(03:55):
My half birthday.
Oh, speaking of gifts that youcould give us, we have a Patreon.
And we would love itif you sign up for it.
It is at patreon.com/eedapod.
Yeah, and then also on our website wehave a link to our bookshop affiliate
site where you can shop all the bookswe have mentioned in this show and
(04:16):
also books I've mentioned in theEnthusiastic Encouragement and Dubious
Advice newsletter, and we get a littlekickback if you shop through our link.
It's a great place to buygifts for other people.
For other people, yeah, because they'reusually books we've read already, so.
[Transition Music]
(04:42):
So.
I was talking with a colleagueabout boycotting companies that
have dumped their DEI programs.
Like us, she got a Costco card.
Costco is one of the companies thathas doubled down on their dedication
to DEI, so we are big Costco fans now.
In past issues of the EnthusiasticEncouragement and Dubious Advice
(05:05):
newsletter, I've shared a tracker forwhich companies have confirmed their
commitment to DEI, and which companieshave shuttered their DEI programs.
I will link it in the show notes so thatyou have easy access to it, so that you
can easily have something to reference.
The thing is, we're only two people,and Costco often sells things in
(05:28):
quantities or volume that is waymore than needed for two people.
Or that we could store,that we have space for.
Oh my gosh, like paper towelscome in like a hundred rolls.
I don't have a smallwarehouse for paper towels.
So what we've done is we've offered toour friends to split the cost of these
(05:50):
items and also split the items, and thatway we all get to share the discounts.
Yeah!
My colleague and I were agreeing thatthe experience of looking for new
sources of Items and doing thingsin a new way is actually fun for us.
I realize it's not the same foreveryone, but stick with me here.
(06:11):
It's definitely easier if yourefer to the tracker that I'm
going to share in the show notes.
But for me, it's like, it's usinga different area of my brain.
It feels like solving a puzzle.
Yeah.
I kind of stumbled into thisthe other day when I was looking
for some new saline spray.
We use NeilMed's piercing spray tohelp clean out our nose piercings.
(06:34):
And for the last, like, year orso, we've been buying it on Amazon.
And we're trying to move away from that.
So I thought to myself, hey, doesthis company have a website with a
storefront on it that I could buythis product directly from them?
And it turns out they do.
NeilMed has their own website store.
(06:55):
And what we learned is that it's theexact same price there as it is on Amazon.
If you spend over $30, then youget free shipping, and it still
came to us in like, two days.
It was still super fast!
Yeah!
So, like, it was the same price,and that means the company gets
to keep all their profit on that.
And we didn't give anymoney to Jeff Bezos.
(07:17):
There you go.
All this to get to thethesis of today's show.
Doing new things improves our qualityof life, and it may do the same for you.
We're going to share a range of waysto fit novelty into your everyday.
I was really hoping that at this point inthe show, I could take a little time and
dazzle you all with science by talkingabout novelty and neurons and dopamine.
(07:43):
But, I spent over an hour, like,digging into the literature and reading
academic articles and all I'm leftwith is like a handful of non-academic
articles that don't cite their sourcesand a really profound sense that I
do not know enough about neuroscienceto be sure that I would be providing
(08:06):
you all with accurate information.
So instead, we're going to talkabout our own personal experience
and share how that has helped us.
We want to talk about trying newthings and how that can fill your cup.
And before we get into that, I wantto use this moment to say it's really
important to us that we can citesources if we said something like
(08:29):
trying new things is healthy for you.
Like we want to be able to cite oursources on that if there are any.
And so that's why Nicole tookall that time to do something.
And that's how we've kind of changedour thesis and made it more personal.
You know, a lot of those articlesyou were saying that you found, not
the academic journal articles, butjust like the blog posts and stuff.
(08:52):
As you said, they didn't citetheir sources, and so they're
just kind of saying things
yeah
without actually beinggrounded in research.
And so much self helpout there is like that.
They just say the wildest things withouttelling you where they're getting this
information, and this is somethingthat I feel really sets us apart.
(09:15):
This is why we're making it very clearthat today's episode comes from a place
of personal experience in the hopesthat that resonates with some of you.
I first want to recognize thateven mundane forms of novelty
can often be only available withcertain amounts of privilege, right?
Once I decided I wanted to do something alittle fancy with our walking route around
(09:39):
the neighborhood and, like, go arounda different block, and that was only
possible because we could afford the extratime it would take, that we had access to
a walkable area with variations, and thatthe terrain was safe and manageable and
accessible to us on this different route.
That being said, in doing this we wererewarded on that walk by finding something
(10:03):
that neither of us had seen before.
A giant dandelion.
It was like two feet tall.
Yeah, literally, there is a wholedifferent species of dandelions,
or family of dandelions, I don'tknow, called giant dandelions.
They're huge.
We did not know they even existed,and by taking this different route,
now we do, and it was very exciting.
(10:24):
It was pretty cool.
To us.
Yeah.
Um, similarly though, going somewherenew for dinner is dependent on budget and
time and transportation and accessibility.
And even if you want to try makingsomething new for dinner, that's dependent
on money to buy different groceries andadditional spell slots to try and find the
(10:46):
recipe and then spend the time to make it.
And then being able to eat somethingelse if what you made didn't turn out.
I think a lot of advice getsthrown out there, like, try new
foods, like, like it's all easy.
And so I'd just like us to say thatwe recognize that your mileage may
vary with any of the advice we give.
(11:08):
Is that why the advice is dubious?
Maybe.
Huh.
A common misconception about noveltyor finding something new to try is
that it needs to be new to everyone.
Universally.
Which is a really hard thing to do,unless you are one of those scientists
(11:31):
that takes those submarines downinto the deep parts of the ocean.
When we're talking about tryingsomething new, what we mean
is try something new to you.
Watching a movie.
that is decades old, can definitely fallinto this if you've never seen it before.
We tried Haitian foodwith a friend recently.
(11:52):
Now, clearly, Haitian food is nota brand new thing to the world.
But it was our first time tryingit, and so it was new to us.
And it was delicious.
Yeah, we had griot?
Maybe.
Yeah, they were littlefried pieces of pork.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.
(12:12):
I really liked it.
One of the ways we enjoy slippingsome novelty in our lives is going
to new locations of a store wewere planning on going to anyway.
We've explored new to us gardencenters, new to us Costco locations.
The Costco we went to a couple weeksago sold caviar, which is not my
(12:34):
thing at all, but I don't recallseeing that at our usual Costco.
Again, your mileage may vary on thisone, and we recognize that this is one
of the many privileges afforded to usby living in a major metropolitan area.
The idea of doing this might also beincredibly anxiety inducing for some
(12:54):
people, and sometimes it is for us.
We'll definitely go to a new Costco, butgoing to a new Safeway for groceries?
Absolutely not!
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no.
My OCD has dictated what ourprimary grocery store is.
The Safeway we go to feels right,and the other ones feel wrong.
(13:17):
And no, I cannot explain.
I can.
We're there for a very specificperson, purpose, not a person.
That'd be weird.
That'd be weird.
And we know how to navigate that storeand exactly what it is we want to purchase
that is sold at that particular store.
Costcos on the other hand, we'reoften not there for like, very
(13:40):
specific, like, everything weneed to eat for the next week.
It's often one or two things, maybewe're looking to see if they carry a
specific item, or maybe, you know, weneed some laundry detergent and, I don't
know, 300 boxes of tissue or something.
It's a lot lower stakes.
And when we're talking about,like, novelty that'll still have
(14:02):
an impact, we're really looking forthese, like, lower stakes things.
This could also mean that if youare a reader, like us, trying a new
genre, and yes, I know many of ushave our comfort genres, like romance
or sci fi, you could even try, youknow, new tropes within those things.
(14:22):
I'm definitely not advocatingstopping reading what you love.
It could just feel good to slip intosomething new once in a while and maybe
expand that circle of things you enjoy.
Yeah, I'm actually trying a new,like, a book with a new romance
trope that I've not read before.
(14:43):
It's a poly romance, and I've neverread a poly romance book before.
Yeah, it's, uh, TripleSec by TJ Alexander.
Mm hmm.
And part of it is, I trust this author.
I like TJ Alexander's otherbooks, and so I'm giving it a go.
And it's kind of fun because I knowoverall where it's going, but I don't
know how we're getting there becausethere's extra people in the mix.
(15:06):
I don't know what's gonna happen.
I kind of love that.
That sounds hilarious.
Yeah.
People also have their comfortshows, and this applies to that too.
Now what we're starting to brushup against here is using novelty to
help you move out of your comfortzone and into a kind of growth zone.
(15:28):
And if that's something you wantto hear more about, we recommend
going back and listening to ourepisode from March 20th, 2024 called
[Verb] Like There's Nobody Watching.
Literally our episode from one year ago.
Yeah.
Sometimes, something I don't doenough, and that I want to do
more of, is listen to new music.
(15:49):
Last year, a friend did a year of newalbums, 52 albums in 52 weeks, and
I found that really inspirational.
Oh, and going back to new food, itdoesn't have to be a whole meal.
We get a lot of mileage out of tryingnew snacks or new tea, or new fruit.
(16:10):
We should really, one, dolike new music every week.
We've got so much new music just sittingon our shelf in the form of records.
We do.
But also, along the lines of liketrying new snacks or tea or new
fruits, we've also gotten a lot outof, like, trying new seasonings.
New season... like, new seasoning mixes,
yeah.
(16:30):
And just using them on somethingsimple, like scrambled eggs.
Yeah, and it's ended up finding,like, my new favorite things.
Yeah.
This next one, however, is eitherexciting or terrifying for new listeners.
And this is hanging out with new people.
Like, emotionally, spiritually,I want to be really stubborn and
(16:54):
say, like, we have enough friends.
But, in all honesty, we've actuallymade some great new friends in
the past year, and I've beenenjoying hanging out with them.
Our more established friends are alsogreat, of course, and we actually
introduced your friend to the restof our friend group, and usually
(17:15):
that's something I feel reallynervous about, but it was so good.
Yeah, everyone had a great time,and there was this really fantastic
knowledge exchange of things that wedefinitely can't talk about on this
show, but there were a lot of laughs.
Yeah, that was I learned so much that day.
(17:39):
Again, your mileage mayvary with any of this.
Trying new things is just somethingthat we try to fit in occasionally,
and it helps break up themonotony and improves our moods.
You know, I just thought of something,and it's silly, but just like going
and walking around a different park.
Literally, yeah.
We've done that multiple times.
Absolutely.
(17:59):
And it's been really enjoyable.
mm hmm
[Transition Music]
So we talked a lot about tryingnew things and how we find
joy in this and everything.
What, what's the key takeaway youwant people to bring home from this?
(18:20):
I really want people to, it can beintimidating, and I really want people
to take away that new experiencesand trying new things doesn't always
have to be expensive or complicated.
How about you?
Yeah, I'm, I'm just gonna followright on your heels with this one.
You can introduce novelty in small ways.
(18:43):
Like, taking a slightly different route,or a different version of a side dish.
It can be that simple, and itjust, I don't know, I enjoy it.
Aside from introducing new thingsin your life, Patricia, what has
been filling your cup lately?
We had one of my longtimefriends come over.
(19:05):
This year, I think marks 28 yearsof knowing each other, we've known
each other since we were teenagers.
And there is something very specialabout still being friends with
someone you've known since youwere, I think I was 18, she was 16.
And, you know, she knew my mom,we're coming up on one year of my mom
(19:28):
passing away, and she was there for us.
And, but also, like, I know her mom,and I'm friends with her sister,
and, you know, over the years, we'vejust, like, grown together, you know,
I went and visited her when she wasstudying abroad in Italy, and I'm
the one who convinced her to eventake Italian in the first place, and.
(19:49):
I don't know.
It's just very special.
It's just very special.
You know, it's, when you've known someonefor that long, it's almost past the point
of friends and that is, that is family.
She's family.
So I don't know.
I'm still riding very high off ofthat because I just love her so much.
Nicole, what is filling your cup?
I finally sent mail, and not just likea postcard, which, nothing wrong with
(20:14):
sending postcards, but I sent letterson nice stationery, and I included
pictures that I'd taken, and used oneof my nice fountain pens with one of
my favorite inks, and just, I did awhole thing of mail, like, several
of them, and it felt really good.
And then for like several daysafter, I've been kind of obsessed
(20:38):
with wanting to send more mail.
And that's what I thinkabout in the evening.
And you also included someof your pressed flowers.
Oh, I did.
Yeah.
I knew there was something else I, Iincluded on that, but it's Saturday
morning and I'm still kind of sleepy.
Yeah, I, I have my pressed flowers thatfrom last year's flowers that we grew.
(20:58):
So I, I also incorporatedthose into the mail as well.
It felt really good.
It's, it's like a combination of like,reaching out and communicating, but
also being kind of slightly crafty.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just been really nice.
Well, that's our show for today.
We'd like to thank our awesomeaudio editor, Jen Zink.
You can find her at loopdilou.com.
(21:20):
We'll leave a link tothat in our show notes.
You can find the full show notesand transcript at eedapod.com.
That's E E D A P O D dot com.
There, you can also find a link to ourPatreon, our bookshop link, and a link
to the ongoing Enthusiastic Encouragementand Dubious Advice newsletter.
You can also find us on Instagramand BlueSky at eedapod and
(21:42):
email us at eedapod@gmail.com.
We are nothing if not consistent.
We would also appreciate it so muchif you would subscribe and rate us on
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever youget your podcasts that allow ratings.
Also, just like, I don't know, shareus and rate us on social media.
(22:03):
Share a post that's like,I love this podcast.
It's great.
You all should listen to it.
That also helps other people find us.
We would also appreciate anyonewho can subscribe to us on Patreon.
Support is going to help us keep thisshow going, especially without ads.
You can find us at patreon.com/eedapod.
In the meantime.
(22:24):
We hope you find ways tobe kind to yourself, drink
some water, and read a book.
We'll be talking to you soon.
When you were teenagers, was thatthe 1900s when phones were still
plugged into the wall via cords?
You're terrible.
I mean, I was a teenager then too, so.
(22:44):
The Song of the Summer was PrettyFly for a White Guy when we met.
Oh, that was by The Offspring.
The Offspring.
Yeah.
yeah
That was interestinglynot their first hit.
No, it wasn't.
And also Kevin Smith movies were abig thing, like Snoochie Boochies.
Oh, yeah.
Kevin Smith movies.
Yep.
Like Mallrats and Chasing Amy.
(23:06):
Clerks.
Clerks.
Clerks was the first one.
Yeah.
And then Dogma, which like for yearsyou could not get a copy of anywhere.
Jay and Silent Bob.
Jay and Silent Bob.
Yeah.
Who featured prominentlyin many of these movies.
Yep.
Wow.
Hi, everyone.
We're old.
[Laughing]
(23:26):
Welcome back to the 1900s.
Uh, nostalgia hour.
Bleh.
[Laughing]
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