You finally find some free time and you feel like watching a movie. You have a ton of things saved to your ‘My List’ on Netflix, so you start there. After browsing for a while, instead of clicking on anything, you go do something else because nothing really grabs you.
Have you been there?
I’m sure, like me, you have friends recommending movies all the time. But you half listen and promise to check it out, knowing full well you probably will never even remember what they recommended.
Here are some reasons to convince you to actually start listening, whether they are recommending a movie, show, band, book, restaurant, activity or place to visit.
People get excited about things for a reason
You aren’t friends with just anyone. You have found something in this person that you like and that is why you hang out with them. So wouldn’t it seem logical that whatever this person gets excited about is worth checking out?
I know not everyone has the same tastes. But you enjoy this person, you like being around them. Don’t you think out of anyone, they would be able to recommend something that you might like.
I have a friend that is really into heavy metal music. I really don’t care for screaming through an entire song. However, I’ve attended festivals with him and had an absolute blast. I’ve watched shows and checked out bands that he likes and ended up liking them too.
These were things I would have never checked out on my own, but because he was so excited about them, I did and ended up finding a whole other side of myself.
We tend to put ourselves into a box
Everyone has this idea of what they like and what they don’t like, but I encourage you to challenge that way of thinking.
To this day, if someone mentions an action adventure film, my initial instinct is that I won’t like it. Which is crazy for me even to think anymore. My daughter got me hooked on all the Marvel movies and now, I’m more excited about a new one coming out than she is.
Not long ago, a friend invited me to go to New Orleans with her. New Orleans, for whatever reason, just wasn’t a place that I had ever been curious about visiting. But she hit me up right when I was in a ‘be adventurous’ type of mood.
This trip turned out to be the best trip I’ve ever taken. Enjoyed myself the entire time. Loved the architecture, food, music, friendliness of the people that live there, and especially the creative art district. I would have never picked that destination on my own, and now I’m mystified as to why it wasn’t on my bucket list.
Trying new things helps us grow, expand, become more knowledgeable, more tolerant and more open. It allows you to discover even more about yourself. And yes, there is always something to learn.
Get yourself out of rut
Along that same line, if you think of yourself in such rigid ways…that you don’t like this or you only like that…your deliberately making yourself rather bland and boring.
For instance, I grew up listening to Top 40 music, the stuff they play on the radio. My daughter and my niece convinced me to take them to Van’s Warped Tour five years ago. I went thinking I was going to absolutely hate it. Instead I walked around in amazement at the original, creative, and completely different music playing on each stage.
Not only did I open myself up to these other kinds of music, but through that experience, I found out that I really enjoy attending live music concerts. It opened up to me a whole new community and a new way to experience music.
So next time your buddy gets that light in their eyes talking about a movie, book or restaurant you haven’t experienced yet…pay attention! Then follow up. Spice up your routine and try something new!
Fill up the comments with your recommendations, be it movies, books, shows, places, restaurants…whatever gets you really excited. I can’t wait to check them out and hope all my readers will check out some new things as well.
I’ll start it off…
TV Shows:
Peaky Blinders – (BBC, Netflix) A notorious gang in 1919 Birmingham, England, is led by the fierce Tommy Shelby, a crime boss set on moving up in the world no matter the cost.
Aggretsuko – (Netflix) Japanese anime following Retsuko the Red Panda, who is frustrated with her thankless office job and copes by belting out death metal karaoke after work.
BoJack Horseman – (Netflix) This animated series follows BoJack, a 1990’s washed up sitcom star and his life of self-loathing and self-destruction.
Movies:
Mortal Engines – (in theaters) 2018 post-apocalyptic adventure film. Not the best made film (special effects are really cool), but the concept and storyline, I really enjoyed.
American Ultra – (2015) Small town stoner who isn’t aware he is actually a CIA trained killing machine. This movie is full of action and a ton of fun. Stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Connie Britton, and Topher Grace.
Moonlight – (2016) Best Picture winning coming-of-age drama. Looks at three defining chapters of a young, black man growing up in Miami.
Books:
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – (2015) Historical fiction novel that tells the story of two sisters in France during World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German occupation.
Anything written by Khaled Hosseini – A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner, etc. Hosseini will engulf you in his tales set in Afghanistan and strong willed characters.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (1951) Deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a young man.
None of these would I have chosen on my own. They were recommended by my daughter or friends. One of the books I checked out because a character on a tv show was reading it!
Fill up the comments with your recommendations, be it movies, books, shows, places, restaurants…whatever gets you really excited. I can’t wait to check them out and hope all my readers will check out some new things as well.
Here’s to not being bland!
Traci
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