Wrapping Up 2022 🎁 and Planning for 2023 🎉
What will you try this year?
50 Things started the year I turned 50 as a way to hold myself accountable to my plan to try 50 NEW things during the year. These things ranged from eating crickets to glass blowing to visiting a synagogue. The chief criterion to be on the list was that it had to be something I had never done before. When people learned of my mission, many offered suggestions and even started their own list. After that first year, I decided to continue trying new things weekly. With this in mind, I started this newsletter as a way to share what I am trying each week and to encourage others to do the same (and help if I can).
In 2022, my activities leaned more towards different creative pursuits and food but a few activities, like pickleball and foot golf, made the list as well. I am in the process of collecting ideas, big and small, for 2023. I am always on the search for new things to add to my list and in fact, the question I get asked most often is where I find out about the different classes I take and where I get ideas so I am starting off this new year by sharing some of these with you. Hopefully these sites will provide resources for you to add to your own list. If you have a unique activity planned for yourself or a suggestion for others, please share by commenting below.
Here are a few resources for you to check out for inspiration. Let’s get started!
Check out the class offerings offered by these companies and either sign up for one (or more) of these or look for a similar class offered in your community.
TimeOut for your city (or a big city near you)
Offerings at your local arts and crafts center or craft stores like Michaels
Cooking schools in your area like Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table
Here are a few somewhat related articles I came across in the past year that might also provide you with some inspiration:
Garden and Gun magazine article “Shopping for a Hobby”
The Guardian article “100 Ways to Improve Your Life Without Really Trying” (this is an unusual collection but it did give me at least two ideas for my own list this year including “Learn the names of 10 trees” and “Learn a TikTok dance - but don’t post it on TikTok”).
Huckberry has also published 50 Things to Do Before You Die, which is a list that seems much more like a big bucket list of items than “50 Things” but the list may give you a few ideas. For example, one of the first things on their list (and probably also the easiest) is to attend the National Toboggan Championships in Maine. This is something I would be interested in doing since I have never seen any kind of tobaggan race but besides this specific activity, this idea may lead you to investigate other unusual events or festivals that occur are in your area
If you are a new subscriber - WELCOME👋🏻!!! I’m glad to have you here and can’t wait to see what you learn and try this year! I like to keep these newsletters short so I am not including what I have personally tried over the holidays but will write about those activities in upcoming issues. You can expect to see this newsletter every Friday or Saturday so if you are missing it, check your spam or promotions folder and make sure you mark it as “good.” If you click the heart at the top or bottom of this email to show that you like it, it will also help the newsletter find its way to your inbox each week.
So fun! Hmm... here are the first few that come to my mind, ones that I think would be fun because I've tried them- Capoiera class, Scuba class, partner dancing class with a friend or significant other. As for me - this year I am going to try to write 12 picture books! - I just joined an online writing community called 12 x 12 and the goal is to support each other to write or revise a picture book each month. That and Substack will keep me very busy. I don't think I'll get 50 new Things in...but maybe 12 - one for each month...that might be a fun goal! :-)