Life is Even Better When You Try New Things
It brings back a kind of wonder I didn’t realize I’d been missing.
Last week, I wrote about how life feels better when you make things. Again, there’s something fulfilling about creating something. Making things gives me a sense of presence. It grounds myself.
Recently, not only making things, but I’ve been trying something completely new as well. Starting something we’ve never done before. Stepping into the unknown.
That’s the part that often feels uncomfortable. Trying something new means letting go of certainty. You don’t know if it’s going to be good. You don’t know if you’ll enjoy it. And in a world where we often feel pressured to be productive, to be good at things, to not “waste time,” trying something new can feel like a risk.
But here’s the thing, it actually didn’t always feel that way.
When we were kids, we used to try new things all the time. We played with crayons, mud, sticks, scissors, whatever we could get our hands on. We drew just to draw. We made things just to see what would happen. There was no fear of wasting time, because time wasn’t something to manage back then, it was something to enjoy.
But growing up slowly changes that. We start thinking more pragmatically. We begin to assess outcomes before we begin. We hesitate to try something new because we don’t want to fail, or we feel we need a reason, a result, a reward. The joy of the moment gets buried under the weight of expectations.
And yet, if you take a closer look, trying something new actually comes with very little to lose, and sometimes quite a lot to gain.
If you try something and end up not liking it, that’s fine. You walk away. No expectations were placed on it. No one is keeping score. You simply learned that it’s not for you, and even that has value.
If you try something and you do like it, but you’re not great at it yet, you can iterate. You can keep going. You can let it be something you enjoy and slowly improve at. You’re not expected to be perfect from the beginning, especially when it’s new.
And if you try something new and it turns into something you truly enjoy, then you’ve just opened up a whole new part of your life. You’ve found a new way to think, to express yourself, to see the world.
That’s the part of new experiences. They don’t just stay in the category of “new.” They change how you do everything else. A new hobby might change the way you look at time. A new challenge might shift your priorities. Even something as simple as trying a new medium, for me like shoot film using a large-format camera, can shift how I see things differently. Even when I’m not using the large-format.
I started noticing things differently. I began appreciating silence more. I slowed down. That small experiment didn’t just give me a new technique. It helped me reconnect with what I love about photography in the first place.
You don’t need to be good at it. You don’t even need to finish it. But you might just enjoy it. And that enjoyment could lead you somewhere surprising.
We don’t always need to know where something leads to start walking in that direction. Sometimes it’s enough just to see a blank canvas and begin.
Life is better when you make things and life is even better when you try new things.
Now go, create, and try new things.
Thank you for reading! Let’s connect through some of my social media such as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!
And if you want to support me on my journey, you can buy me a film roll, buy my photobook or my prints (ship worldwide)! ❤️
I’ll see you again next time!
Cheers,
Yeah, I echo what Wulan said. You got a way of distilling these things down that really resonates with me. Great stuff, man.
This essay came into my mailbox just right in time (when I was a bit unsure and hesitant about trying something new, or even just revisiting old activities that I used to do back then because it feels... awkward, you know..? To get back into something we once left completely?) However, thank you for the insight. Now I no longer hesitate ✨