I DARE YOU

I’ve been in a mood for new things lately. To be more exact, I’ve felt a bit braver to try new things. Some radical, some not. I figure why not? Times we’re living entice a lot of us to learn and live fully again, rediscover and love life with a renewed strength.

At the minute I’m past the “just start!” phase, and settling in the “go hard!” one; albeit not sure at all of processes or outcomes. Worrying about jumping in an unexplored experience tends to be paralyzing and off-putting. Well, I’m going in head first, because I do not want to have regrets about not trying to grow vegetables for example. Yes, it might be very simple for some of you, but for me it’s a new world. I used to stop short at buying potted herbs from the supermarket that would eventually die after a few weeks.

I would devour gardening TV programs and admire lavish and flourishing raised vegetable beds from afar, not daring to consider achieving the same feat. Green fingers among my acquaintances would prompt me to just have a go, secretly convinced – I suspect – that I’d never do; who can blame them? I would always pester them with a thousand questions, overprocessing, overanalyzing the simplest things like putting a seed in a pot and cover with soil…

Anyway, we’re over the doubt hump: I’ve started about a million cultures, the living spaces in my house as well as my cheap and cheerful mini greenhouse are full of them. What a delight to see the first signs of life out of the soil!  Absolutely exhilarating to witness those green shoots coming out. Not all that easy as gardening is a science, but all the same very fun. And the little mishaps are part of the process…

Daring looks like Kyle Mc Donald, a Canadian chap who got on this crazy social experiment, vying to get a whole house from a red paperclip… In July 2005, he started this bartering cycle by trading the red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen, then the same day traded the pen for a hand-sculpted doorknob… 12 exchanges and a year later in July 2006, he ended up with the sought-after prize, a house.

Demi Skipper, an American in her late 20’s is trying to emulate his success           , and has taken on her own daring trading end of last year: get a house from a hairpin.

So far among other random things, she’s got earrings, a vacuum cleaner, a camera set, collection sneakers, an electric skateboard, 3 tractors (?), a peloton bike…the latest thing she’s yet to barter is a VIP Chipotle card – Chipotle is a popular chain of Mexican cuisine restaurants in the US, and their VIP cards allow the happy few to eat free meals there for a year.

Let’s hope this barter trend is a growing phenomenon that could come and disrupt the reigning capitalism just a tiny bit. It’s not only fun but also a real hope for some of us not able to access certain basics or privileges the “standard” way. I’ve actually vowed to do more thrift-shopping from now on, which is half-way there to bartering; great for the planet, great for style originality and great for the purse!

Daring is obviously relative – me deciding to run a 10K race would be another day at the office  for a dear friend of mine who does it every year…Waking up around 4.30am at least 5 days a week – my latest goal – is however no easy feat for most of us.  The satisfying feeling I get from being awake that early and actually being productive when most people are deep asleep is immense. A lot of times though it’s hard to go to bed before 9.30PM, so some days I can’t make it. Work in progress, but I would definitely recommend to fit in at least a couple of very early days in your routine. Results are immediate, guaranteed!

Who we become in the process is the prize.

Evolving, dramatic change, revolutionary change, metamorphosis will require a slice of daring, so let’s take down the wall of fears brick by brick, and dare more.