Have you ever wondered why “out of the ordinary” days stick with you the most? Maybe it was the day you met a lifelong friend, the moment you set your eyes on a beautiful landscape in a new country, or the birth of a child.
Now that I’ve experienced the highlights of my college years, a decade of marriage, and the joys of having children, I realize that it’s habits and not novelty that lay the foundation of a good life.
But a life that’s all structure and routine without enough wonder and novelty isn’t complete, either. It’s by maintaining our childlike passion into adulthood that we can experience the fullest life possible.
The Struggle of Balancing Maturity and Novelty
Our need for excitement and novelty is at its highest when we’re children and adolescents. Researchers found that between the ages of 20 and 60, the desire for novelty drops by about half.When you reach adulthood, long days of productivity demand most of your time. Hobbies you once enjoyed are seldom done. There’s less free time to be creative and explore new ideas.
Our culture praises productivity and effectiveness. We work hard and reap the benefits.
Curiosity and daydreaming about new ideas can also be seen as irresponsible, because they may cause you to veer off the path of immediate productivity.
Personally, I’ve worked full-time in a public school and now stay home to raise and homeschool my children. Both are jobs that demand focused energy and leave little time for pursuing personal creative outlets.
But when I’m solely focused on productivity and checking everything off my to-do list, I lose sight of what brings the most enjoyment to my days. Allowing time for curiosity and creativity encourages me to stay motivated to do the hard work that the season brings.
I believe the key here is to not let the pendulum swing too far in either direction, but have a healthy balance of focused work and creative exploration.
When the Balance Is Off
Maturity and novelty both play important roles in our well-being. When life is all about being productive and following routines, we can become robotic and lose the zest in life that motivates and excites us. But when life is all about novelty-seeking experiences, there’s often no clear structure or direction.If we’re not careful, we can end up too far on one end of the spectrum, leading to an unbalanced life.
At the other end, where life is all about structure and routine, our productivity mindset can be hard to break free from. We can become creatures of habit, where life may lose its luster and days become filled with the same old routines—causing a mundane outlook on life.
Finding a Healthy Balance
In order to live a flourishing life filled with passion and focus, you need to find a balance between novelty and maturity. Each person will have to find their own place on the spectrum.Take some time to think about the season you’re in. Do you have a tendency to work too much and be restricted by your daily routine? Do you gravitate toward creative pursuits, but then lack the structure of getting things done?