K002: The Annual Problem for Our Generation
Emily,
Where were you in February 2008?
Skimming Wikipedia, it was a busy time in the still-early days of the never-ending news cycle. Earthquakes in Rwanda, Mexico, Indonesia, England, and Nevada. Independence in Kosovo. Primaries and caucuses in the 2008 election cycle in the United States.
Among these, I vaguely recall the election of Barack Obama later that year. However, I have vivid memories of Disney Channel's "Ferbruary" - the launch of the celebrated television series Phineas and Ferb. The formula worked for several years, with the titular step-brothers looking for ways to fill their 104 days of summer vacation often to an catchy song about their current scheme: writing a one-hit wonder, conducting chariot races, or constructing a portal to Mars.
Time passed more slowly in childhood. There were fewer responsibilities.1 But more importantly, life was constant novelty. The younger you are, the more likely you are to encounter something that you have never seen before. We are given constant opportunities as children to learn, grow, and experiment. As an adult, we fill our time with comfortable routines. The same time that used to be for roller coaster construction in our backyards.
Novelty-seeking, "a personality trait long associated with trouble" drops by about half between the ages of 20 and 60.2 Five years into that time span, I find myself tapping the brake pedal and wondering if novelty is the way to do this.
Not so coincidentally, it is the time of year that I work on my Uberlist.3 I will write 125 measureable tasks out for 2025, and I think the theme will be novelty. What classes can I sign up for? What book genres need exploration? Can I travel somewhere I haven’t heard of yet? Maybe next summer will last several seasons on Disney Channel.
As Phineas and Ferb would say,
Gitchee Gitchee Goo,
Kate
I was going to say “responsibilities like voting” but as we’ve recently learned, there are plenty of adults who don’t vote. ↩
This quote and statistic are pulled from a New York Times article on the concept of novelty and its benefits. ↩
Introduced to me by the incredible Susie Gharemhani, who is also mentioned in this Medium article on Uberlists. I do 100 goals plus my age (125 for this year), and even the act of writing out these goals gives me an idea of how I judge success. And for this year, what I consider novelty! ↩