A friend of mine told me that that’s what I am 🙂 which I thought was such a nice compliment. These are some thoughts I had on what might make for an interesting person (and an interesting life):
Surround yourself with diversity. Go places where you will spend extended time with many kinds of people. Shiurim, workshops, Shabbos meals…
Try new things all the time. New foods. New places. New activities. You don’t have to like it to have made it worth trying. Trying is the point.
Don’t be afraid of discomfort or of looking foolish. Get over your fear of being bad at something. You don’t have to be good at something to enjoy and gain from trying it out.
Look for your city’s free activities, especially over the summer months, and try them out. Lessons, lectures, festivals, exhibitions, fairs and markets…
Go places that stimulate creativity and openness. A garden store, art gallery, florist, forest, old neighborhood, a boat…
Keep a notebook of notes and quotes from anything you read. Use your notes to stimulate your own written reflections.
Make a list of things you’re scared of trying. Then go try some of them.
Read travel books.
Write opinion pieces in response to things you read or hear about.
Write a list of long-held beliefs about yourself and start to dismantle them one by one. What keeps a lot of us stunted and stilted and unable to break free into who we can be are paralyzing fears about looking foolish or being wasteful or self-centered.
Ask a lot of questions and spend time with people you find interesting.
Read a stack of at least fifteen award-winning picture books. Sit like a pretzel on the library rug and read your way through them.
Write every day, even if you are not a “good” writer, even if you never wanted to write anything before. Just put pen to paper and write whatever comes. I guarantee it, the pearls will come.
