Why Novelty is the Best Drug for Brain Health (+ 61 New Things to Try to Spark your Creativity)
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If you’ve been in a rut, I have just the cure. It’s a harmless drug that improves brain health and sparks creativity.
You know that feeling — when you are suddenly miraculously struck with a fire of newfound excitement after doing the same dull mundane routine over and over again?
Almost as if you’ve taken a dream-inducing drug, you are swept out of the bland daily same-old blah. Colors become more vibrant, your mind more clear.
What happened was, you made a new friend or met a beautiful new lover or you discovered a little cafe down the street or you took up a new hobby or you moved to a new town with intriguing new people and places.
The Drug of Inspiration
Novelty is the drug of inspiration.
It lights us up like a sunrise through the dawn. What had become the dim and cold mundanity of our repeated routines is suddenly replaced with glowing extravagance, like a gift on Christmas morning — at last, something new!!
It is no secret that humans are wired to love newness. Duh! Modern consumerism entices us with shiny new cars, new shoes, new clothes, new homes, new vacations, new electronics, and anything else money can buy.
But the excitement of those transactions wears off relatively quickly. We go searching for something new again (thankfully without the fiendish cravings of an addict of other kinds).
Health Benefits of New Experiences
Novelty is a drug that improves your health rather than degrades it. Exposure to new stimuli is linked to better memory, more creativity, improved brain health and longevity, and greater overall happiness.
Neurobiologists have even found that novel experiences slow age-related memory decline in Alzheimers…
