1 Year, 52 Weeks, 52 Tests

In a year, there are 52 weeks or 365 days or 8,760 hours or 525,600 minutes.
This is quite some time, when you think about it.
I keep hearing people (including myself) saying “time flies”. Well, the more time passes, the more I am convinced that one should reach out of his/her comfort zone to find happiness and satisfaction in life.

In a recent read of Moonwalking with Einstein, I stumbled upon an interesting piece about how packing one’s life with memorable experiences is the best way to slow down time. This is because each significant event and experiment creates a mental marker that anchors a memory, and therefore a reference in time. The more markers you anchor in shorts amount of time, the more this period of time is perceived as long, therefore slowing time in your past… Follow me? 🙂

Another way of looking at experiences is perfectly summed up by this quote, apparently from a mysterious Canadian writer

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.”

When I thought about re-branding this blog, I looked deep inside for the reasons that got me started in the first place. All I wanted to do was to relate the facts and events of the new life abroad I was starting: the new places to discover, the new foods I would try, etc… Testing new things, Tasting new things.

I have been fortunate enough to grow up with loving parents who were open and financially comfortable enough to let me experience different activities: a jack of all trades from the youngest age, keen to try new sports and activities, the latest fad, as soon as they appeared as a possibility… (Later in life, I realized the flip side of this is the proneness to getting bored easily, and to not being a very persistent person, but I have worked on it and it is another story…)

This year, I want to push this to the extreme and to challenge myself with a conscious, fast paced rhythm of experimentation: 52 Weeks, 52 Experiments.

It does not have to be bold or crazy or unique each time, it probably can’t be, but I believe it should expose me to additional serendipity, bring about more awareness of my own interests, and help root those sparkling memory markers deep inside my brain, and slow down time.

So here it is: my 2015, 52 Weeks 52 Tests Challenge!

Week #1 – New Year’s Eve in a Remote Rustic Location

Week #2 – Prosperity Iced Tea

Week #3 – Power Napping in the Business District

Week #4 – Chicken & Waffles: a Food Heresy?

Week #5 – Dragon boating with Ze Germans

Week #6 – Hypnotherapy

Week #7 – Leather craft

Week #8 – A Great Stay and a Hellish Travel

Week #9 – Singing Class

Week #10 – Homemade Granola

Week #11 – Copper craft