The human brain loves novelty. Seeing new, novel things stimulates what’s called the “novelty center” in our brains. That’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot in the past month, as summer has turned to fall and winter dread has started to creep in.
In most parts of the US, we’re more than six months into our new pandemic lifestyles. That’s six months of sameness: six months of baking sourdough and watching Netflix and doing puzzles and working from home and taking walks around your neighborhood and everything else. In six months, we’ve developed entirely new habits. What might once have felt novel in the beginning — I’m going to learn to bake bread or take up knitting or deep clean my apartment! — has quickly become routine, ordinary, everyday.
Of course, it goes without saying that boredom and sameness are first world problems: we are so fortunate to be safe, healthy, to have homes and entertainment. But after six months of the same things — the same routines, the same sights, the same (very few) places, the same activities — I realized that what I had been missing was novelty. Literally anything new, anything different, anything to feel that rush of change and newness.
In some ways, fall gives us novelty: it’s an opportunity to wear different clothes, to decorate your home a little differently, to switch to cooking different recipes. I started trying to find novelty in my own life: I dug out all of my fall/winter clothes and bought some new ones, and have been relishing the novelty of wearing different clothes than the ones I’d been wearing for the last six months. I bought fall scented candles (it’s almost Nest holiday candle season, y’all). I started making recipes with fall produce: sweet potatoes, squash, brussels sprouts, apples. And I certainly won’t claim that capitalism and buying things will solve our problems — but, I don’t know, buying a few things might feel nice?
Those may be small changes, but at a time when our lives are limited in many other ways, a little novelty can make a huge difference. Our brains are wired to seek our new environments, new images, new sights and sounds, and that keeps our brains healthy. Novelty motivates us, keeps us excited, engaged, and learning. We may not be able to travel to a new place or see a new play or experience novelty in bigger ways, but at least we can make some small changes to make things feel a little more exciting. Maybe I’ll even buy a decorative gourd.
What I’m reading
How work became an inescapable hellhole, Wired. An excerpt from Anne Helen Petersen’s new book, Can’t Even. The description of her morning routine is the most relatable routine I’ve ever read.
The public-shaming pandemic, The New Yorker. How social media shaming has played a unique role in this pandemic.
May every woman find her Marty Ginsburg, Vogue.
“Get Organized with The Home Edit” is informercial reality television, The New Yorker. Kyle Chayka with a critical review of the Home Edit show. (Which, listen, I have enjoyed the show as aesthetically pleasing background TV while I multitask and yes it has inspired me to buy some clear acrylic organizers for all my crap, but this review also is spot-on about what it lacks.)
Rebecca Traister finds hope in the mixed-upness of humanity, Interview Magazine.
Lizzo on hope, justice, and the election, Vogue. Claudia Rankine profiles Lizzo for Vogue!
And a bonus recommendation: watch this, it will make your day.
What I’m cooking
This week I returned to some old favorites: I made this crisp gnocchi with brussels sprouts and chicken zucchini meatballs with feta and deviled chicken thighs. Also, this lemony roasted potato recipe was awesome. And if you’re in a fall baking mood, I highly recommend this delicious and easy apple bundt cake with cream cheese frosting (pictured above)!
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