What's something new you started doing this year?
Could be a hobby, could be a new habit.
This year I started using a water flosser! My dental hygiene isn't the greatest and I could count on one hand how many times I flossed in a year, but I read a post saying how someone uses their handheld one in the shower and, yeah, that absolutely clicked for me!
I feel like I have weird sensory issues with using it over the bathroom sink. But in the shower, everything is already wet anyways. I can't believe it's a habit I've been able to keep up for more than half a year now with ease. It's something that I look forward to doing every time I shower. I've even started flossing with regular floss more now because I no longer bleed or feel gross. (I prefloss with the water one first.) Really happy.
I wish I could maintain more habits like that.
I also bought a standing desk and I really love standing and working now, too.
I went back to the dentist, finally. I haven't had one since COVID - was coughing when scheduled for my last cleaning, and then my dentist retired and yeah.
Unfortunately it was after a toothache started and I'm now in excruciating pain pending a root canal... In less than 48 hours but it feels like six years away. But once I'm back connected I should manage to go to the appointments
Ouch. I had a long gap between dental visits while in grad school, then was suffering a bit afterwards. Ever since, I've been doing quarterly cleanings/checkups, even if I have to pay out of pocket (or from an HSA) for the later ones in the insurance year. I don't relish them, but I've been stable for a long time when I used to be much more cavity prone, so I can't really complain.
Congratulations on going again! Root canal treatments suck, but I'm glad you're having it nonetheless. :)
How strange, I also went to the dentist for the first time since before Covid. My dental hygiene is pretty good, I brush twice a day, rinse with alcohol free mouthwash, and floss a couple times a week but even with all that you can't really avoid build up of crap over time.
Covid really did a number on my dental routine as I normally went for a check up along with a scale and polish once a year but I just kept forgetting. I eventually went back after 5 years of no dental checkups in February this year to find out that my incisors were thinning at the edges, and I had very mild tooth decay in hard to reach places so I needed multiple bouts of dental work over 6 months and fillings to sort my mouth out which cost me £300 in total.
My dentist also suggested an electric toothbrush, interdental brushes and a water flosser to help keep my teeth as clean as possible so I've been using those for around 6 months now and my mouth feels so much cleaner than just using a normal brush and floss.
Otherwise I've started collecting Magic cards, my poor wallet. I played Commander with a couple friends a few times earlier in the year and enjoyed myself so decided to buy cards and build my own Commander deck over time.
I've started knitting! I've got the knit and purl pretty much down, but I can't figure out how to cast on properly and my class is on winter break. I looked up some videos and I can't figure out what they're doing at all. So not a lot of progress, but more than in my first 31 years!
I (re)started contra dancing! I danced a bit in high school and college, but it's been a while and I hadn't danced a single time since maybe 2012 or so. But it came back to me super quickly and I'm having so much fun! I've been going regularly to a place relatively near me and I think I'll be doing this for a long time to come!
(if anyone in the Chicago area is interested, dm me I'll share you the info where I'm going!)
Doing new things in general. It's been a terrible bunch of years, ongoing trauma that shocks anyone but the most unfortunate people. Top that off with a complete lack of care or help through healthcare or legal venues.
It stripped me of any sense of future. Of time passing, not just being in a limbo, waiting for the pain to stop. But it never did. And help never came, and I was so often ridiculed and have some pretty nasty reports on me from a psych. specialist that chose to never to the trauma assessments I was referred for. Said it would be ineffectual to offer any kind of help, for as long as the patient isn't willing to admit what is wrong. Me describing my days, my body, my attempts at maintaining a connection with society was apparently not enough. The specialist didn't like how I said I don't have a name for this, which is why I was referred for assessment.
After that, I shut down. Hard. For years. At times not even leaving my bed more than once a day to drink and go toilet.
Circumstances forced a move, changed municipality, and within a fortnight I had several different kinds of support and help set in motion.
This year has been one where I finally was able to say I am ready to live again. LIVE, not just survive. And I will try new things, wherever they show up. Even if I don't like doing new activities all the time.
So far I've found out I am averagely bad/good at beginner's mini-golf, I can somewhat do crafts like embroidery, I've made some small things in a woodworking shop/class, I've joined a weekly swim, I've gotten back into PC gaming, I've accepted at least 10 offers of meeting up for a cup of coffee and a chat. That's about 10 more than I've done for years. I've read books on linguistics, not limiting myself in the belief I won't remember much. I don't, but that wasn't the point either! Laughs
I've made some dinners I've never made before. Some will never be made again. I've finally tasted what MSG is in its pure form. Very, very lackluster. Prefer flavour enhancers like Maggi.
I've done lots of small things here and there. Used other mugs than my favourite, just because. Sat back with less opinions on some things. Leant forward and spoken up more in other contexts.
My plan is to continue pursuing small, manageable, previously untried activities or experiences. No travelling the world or other lofty pursuits. Just pragmatic exploration within my window of tolerance.
Which is a lot bigger than it was a year ago.
I'll never "become my old self again". My experiences changes people on a fundamental level. But I am becoming more at home in my life and body, and more accepting of what was done that can't be changed. Not saying it was okay, not saying I am "forgiving" those that knowingly (sometimes willingly) caused harm.
But I am no longer fighting the idea that these things happened and can't be undone. That has been a MAJOR change for me. I've always been more of an activist type. "If it hasn't changed for the better yet, you just haven't tried for long enough" type. I am a lot more mellow now.
In short, conciously seeking out newness in small ways has been the new thing this year. And I will continue to do so going forward.
I started birdwatching this year and pretty quickly transitioned to photographing birds. I love it and try to do it as often as possible, despite it involving three things I really dislike - getting up super early, being outside dealing with the elements, and physical exertion. I only ever put myself through those things for my kids, so it has to be true love that's keeping me going :)
Edit: this might sound dumb but have you considered "gamifying" building good habits? I use an app called Finch, which is like a self care Tamagotchi (but it doesn't die or get upset if you don't check in daily. I know there are other apps out there all about building good habits in a more fun or gentle way. It seems stupid but it works for me somehow!
How do you find Finch compared to other apps? I tried Habitica, but I felt like it had too many components and it became too much work to try to maintain checking and using the app as a habit, too. (On the plus side, now I do most of my good habits so I don't have to bother going into the app, lol!)
About a week ago I started roller blading (with the help of an early Christmas gift from my family). I'm 34 and I fell once three days ago and it still hurts. A man in the park told me that I should have fallen forwards instead of backwards. I know he was trying to help, but I don't think at my skill level that I get to control which way I fall. It's been fun though, and good exercise.
This line got me: "I don't think at my skill level that I get to control which way I fall". Ha! The older I've got, the more I'm willing to wear deeply unfashionable protection/high-vis clothes, I've found. I used to skate and found wristguards invaluable, I think I would have ruined my wrists without them, actually, since the best skating surfaces tend to be those hard ones that aren't kind to falling with outstretched arms.
My kids are trying to get me into skating and I keep telling them I love my knees too much to risk it!
A friend of mine broke her spine rollerblading a few years ago. She's still got chronic pain from it.
Wow, that's scary. I don't know what to do about that, but thanks for letting me know.
I don't think there's any kind of protective brace for it. I don't know if that's a common thing to happen, but you aren't going to catch me in a pair of rollerblades again.
Don't let that stop you from enjoying rollerblading. It's riskier than standing still for sure, but I've known people who broke limbs just tripping while walking normally.
Yeah! I wear protection for my wrists, my knees, my elbows, and I even wear a helmet. I don't mind looking silly. It's just that landing on your butt hurts, and I don't know that I can prevent it.
Finally having a job after two years of dragging myself through the mud. Something that seems to quite suit me(software engineering) too.