What to do to feel brand new?

July 1, 2012 1:44 AM

What do you do when you want to feel like a new person, or a new version of yourself, or just to shake things up? I am thinking about running out and getting some clippers and making an attempt at shaving my head. Whether for the oft-maligned symbolic break or out of sheer boredom, what have you done to feel new? or what do you do to feel fresh?
posted by 221bbs to Grab Bag (28 answers total)

I would go with the idea of just running, rather than running out. Since I started running, I've lost weight, I've gained a sense of achievement at running farther and faster, I've lost interest in eating junk food and I have a new sense of energy and purpose. I'm a lot less stressed and I sleep better.
posted by MighstAllCruckingFighty at 1:57 AM on July 1, 2012 [8 favorites]

Dye your hair. Buy new clothes. Start a new hobby and join a club relating to it where no one knows you from before. For the extreme version, move cities/countries!
posted by lollusc at 2:25 AM on July 1, 2012

I like to:
Exercise. Get a tattoo. Recently, a second ear piercing. A long walk somewhere by myself with my camera (which makes me really -look- at things). Adop a whole new music genre. Hair dye or a fresh cut. Strive toward minimalism by dumping clothes/books/stuff.

Depends on the degree of change I'm itching for.
posted by DisreputableDog at 2:43 AM on July 1, 2012

Shaving may be OK, it depends on how you would like to present your new self.

I usually move to a new place, take on a new project or explore a new group of friends if I want a change.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 2:58 AM on July 1, 2012

Clean my room. Rearrange furniture. Try a new diet and see how I feel. Look at new types of porn and see what it does for me. Delete or add contacts from social network sites (or cancel membership altogether!). Plan a trip. Clear out email inbox. Take a new route to work. Hang out with somebody I've been meaning to but haven't found the time to (usually because I've been hanging out with the same people a lot). Attend a lecture or take a class. Listen to a self-help podcast. Buy new sheets.
posted by iamkimiam at 3:07 AM on July 1, 2012

Best answer: I pay really close attention to what I eat and how much I sleep for a few days, including making meal plans and massive supermarket shopping. I book a hair appointment. I buy a new lipstick. I make a coffee date with someone I wish I knew better.
posted by third word on a random page at 4:14 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Go for a walk in a place unfamiliar enough that you can get somewhat lost for a couple of hours.
posted by jon1270 at 4:15 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Pick a random subject that interests you and find out all you can about it. On your coffee-date-with-someone-you-don't-see-enough, tell them all about it and see what they have to add!
posted by daisyk at 4:31 AM on July 1, 2012

Best answer: Do a big grocery shop in a different section of town, preferably in a store where you're unfamiliar with the layout. Try to replace all of the old spices in your cabinet.

Throw out all of your underwear and buy new in a different style.

Build a piece of furniture (not assemble, build.) Make a lamp out of something non-lamp-like.

Help somebody else who needs it with a clean out project. This always gets me going at home.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 4:47 AM on July 1, 2012

Shift countries.
posted by pompomtom at 4:54 AM on July 1, 2012

Picking up a new hobby. Fencing is quite fun, as is belly-dancing. Walking for a couple miles on the beach. Or anywhere that I am not listening to traffic/people noise. Try to learn a new language.
posted by kellyblah at 4:54 AM on July 1, 2012

Travel. If you don't want or can't make a permanent move somewhere else, take a trip to another country: I always return from a trip abroad feeling re-enthused about life. If the budget won't stretch to that, be a tourist in your own city/region -- pick a museum or gallery or something interesting close by which you've never done and approach it as if you're a visitor from somewhere else.
posted by meronym at 5:02 AM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

If you don't want to go all-out and shave your head, just cut your hair in a dramatically different style. Bike, if you're in a place where you can do it safely. (This is the biggest one for me; I have a much better sense of how my city is connected from biking everywhere.) Indulge in an occasional expensive comfort food. Walk places where you might ordinarily drive/take public transit. Take a good book to a pretty public space and read and people-watch read for a while. Learn to cook something new. Make something practical that you'll actually use/wear regularly you can look at and say "I made this and that's fucking awesome." (For me this is knitted objects, ymmv.) Write paper letters to faraway friends, or call someone you haven't talked to in ages.

...I hate to bring up the mefi stock answer here, but therapy? Depending on your reasons for wanting the changes. What else is going on in your life that's putting you in this mood.
posted by ActionPopulated at 6:27 AM on July 1, 2012

Change my hair colour or style or both. Buy a new outfit, something dramatic that I might not normally wear. Clear out a room in my house of clutter and crap and rearrange the furniture, it makes coming home at the end of the day better as the house feels new. Paint my bedroom.

I've also changed jobs just to get the whole starting new/clean slate feeling more times than I care to admit, I've left jobs I've liked just because I didn't like the being in a rut feeling, I love that you can reinvent yourself with every new job. Having said that I have don't have a career per se so make sure you that is important to you to change jobs sensibly, a new job can be very invigorating.
posted by wwax at 6:58 AM on July 1, 2012

Best answer: I'm a big fan of the radical hair redesign, and the purchase of clippers has been one of my best ever.
If you want to do something really simple, buy a bar of fancy soap with like rose petals or lavender or something in it.
Experiment with your caffeine intake (lowering or cutting it out completely).
That person you've always had a crush on? Ask 'em out.
Experiment with lucid dreaming.
Ask for something else to do at work.
Read something you think you normally wouldn't.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:49 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: To feel fresh, I exercise (try something new to shake things up if you're bored with your current regimen), get a haircut (clippers optional!), try a restaurant you haven't been to before or cook a new recipe, clearing clutter is always refreshing as it's one of those things that piles up and it occupies mental space.
Longer term ideas include changing jobs, city, country. I've done all of those and it does shake things up, but you don't have to go to extremes immediately; the adage is that all journeys start with a single step so today could be the haircut and you can work towards something bigger in a few months.
posted by arcticseal at 8:50 AM on July 1, 2012

I absolutely used to dye my hair or shave my head if I felt like a small jump start in a new direction.

Doing some kind of physical thing that's new to you is another good one. Rock climbing? Kayaking? Some kind of dance class you've never tried before?
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:54 AM on July 1, 2012

Go to a concert. Use LSD -- I've been, um, told one feels refreshed and renewed, as though one's brain has gotten a good springtime airing out.
posted by Occula at 8:58 AM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

New decor -- switch your bedding, art, pillows for an easy change.

New nail color.
posted by jgirl at 9:06 AM on July 1, 2012

Best answer: Big changes:
-moving to a new city for grad school
-piercing my wrists
-quitting grad school after my MA
-shaving my head (yeah, about that...)
-dumping my ex
-quitting or changing jobs to something I hated less (2x)

Small changes:
-removing the piercings (yeah, about that, too...)
-reading a book in a topic/area I've previously dismissed
-tossing out/donating 10 items from my household that I don't need
-trying new, difficult recipes with ingredients I don't normally use
-buying a new 'something I will wear every day'
-re-arrange my furniture
posted by sm1tten at 9:10 AM on July 1, 2012

Best answer: Skydiving is like hitting the reset button.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:37 AM on July 1, 2012

Best answer: Try a hobby that is primarily practiced by people of a different gender/age group/ethnicity/socioeconomic class than you: maybe knitting, bridge, mah jongg, clogging, quilting, auto racing, who knows. But if you meet and befriend people who are different from you, you will become different yourself.
posted by rikschell at 11:49 AM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Depends what sort of break you need. I've sometimes found value in reconnecting with people from my past who I've been sort of drifting away from in that "Gee I haven't spoken to Lauren in a long time, I should really write her a letter" If I just need to be somewhere else, I'll often either go for the old haircut. buy clothes in a different style, start hanging out in coffeeshops again to do work [instead of at home], try out a new bar, getting rid of old clothes, cooking some big epic thing I've never tried before, call up a friend to do something that's been on the "we should do that sometime..." list that we never do. Personally I will sometimes go for the "personal hygeine within an inch of my life" thing (I am usually pretty scrubby in general) where I'll pay attention to things I never pay attention to like my toenails and fingernails, nosehair, moisturizing, whatever. On a more symbolic level I'll burn sage in the house, listen to new or old music, clean some part of the house I don't pay enough attention to, rearrange the furniture in some room, do some new gardening project.
posted by jessamyn at 3:32 PM on July 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

A itty bitty hitch I throw into my giddy-up once in a while is just to stay up all night, a full 36 hours, with a bunch of coffee, a good book, a notebook, awesome music...and go for a long walk when the birds start to chirp. You gotta keep the coffee coming, and make sure you don't have super important plans for the next evening, because an early bedtime is in your future, but it's something small and simple that works for me every time I get into any sort of funk I want to shake off. I don't allow myself to watch movies or go online, because that's something I do to much of, and isn't that special, and it's AMAZING if you do it with a friend who is good for chatting as well as good as reading beside.
posted by Grandysaur at 8:33 PM on July 1, 2012 [7 favorites]

Do something good for others.
posted by pracowity at 5:57 AM on July 2, 2012

Things I have done in the past, in order of how well it worked:

Started training in cold open-water ocean swimming
Started swimming laps
Made a end of day gym routine of rinse/swim/sauna/shower/clean underwear/go to bed
Started running
Stretched an existing piercing
Got a new ear piercing
Volunteered for the crappy graveyard shift where we unpack boxes of product shipment all night long, then walking home at 8 in the morning
A week of boring but adequate food-- basically the same vegetables and rice every day-- followed by a feast of exactly what I wanted and more than I really needed, followed by resumption of my usual diet (it puts it into perspective)
Rearranged the furniture
Random train trip to the end of the line, visited a strange city with no plan
Added songs from a genre and artist I don't like to my iPod, and refused to hit "next" when they came on the shuffle. I've actually learned to like most of them.

Basically, think of something you kind of want to do, which is harmless or can be made reasonably safe. Especially good is something you always wanted to do, but which you never had time for or felt you could do for whatever reason, or a physically or emotionally difficult challenge. Think of how you would do it, then give it an honest try. I never thought I would like running or hip hop, but after an initial period of adjustment, I sort of get them both and don't feel like nothing is ever going to change again. It's nice to have agency, isn't it?

I would recommend against a tattoo because they're permanent, while piercings more or less go away if you take them out. If you've always wanted a tattoo, though, maybe do the research on where and how you would go about getting it. Even if you don't get it, the act of making a project and knowing that you could put Project Tattoo into motion if you wanted might help.
posted by blnkfrnk at 7:54 PM on July 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Pick some established habits, and change them. Become more productive or more fun.
posted by talldean at 6:32 AM on July 3, 2012

Made a collage on my wall, in a noticeable place.
Moths cut out and arranged by size, and band posters, and the earth from space, and nature calendars I'd cut up and pieced together into a forest next to my bed.

Dyed my hair & haircut (Rule of thumb for shaving, if you have an oval/long face, shaved head looks good. Short face? Not so much.
I really, really enjoyed the convenience of a shaved head, but it is universally acknowledged that it looked pretty crap on me).

Didn't so much buy new clothes as pull out my clothes, and put things together in combinations I never had before, according to color/style etc, or got things from Op Shops.

Dressed up 'oddly' for me (really shake up your style!) on the weekends, and left the house with a bag so that I could just wander for the day, go to the vege market (farmers market), wander down streets I hadn't before, or to parks, or to bands and free events. Agree with Occula.
posted by Elysum at 9:10 PM on July 4, 2012