My Adventure Window Is Closing (and no one told me until now)

Let me just first say that I love my iPod. I recently upgraded to the 30G Video and have been pretty impressed with the things I can do with it. However, like most of my other tech gadgets, I don't use it to it's fullest capacity. So, because of this awareness and also wanting to get the most bang for my buck, I've recently discovered Podcasts. H has gotten me hooked on NPR casts, which I can download and listen to at my leisure. Today's cast was titled "NPR's Most Memorable Moments of 2006" and dealt with the almost inevitable loss of adventure in our lives that happens as we approach 40. One professor at Stanford noticed this and did a little bit of "research" after being extremely irritated by his TA, who was never stuck in a rut as evidenced by his enjoyment of different genres of music on a daily basis. He decided to call around to about 50 radio stations nationwide and found that there was a concept of "breakthrough minus 20", in which you take an artist's "breakthrough" year and subtract 20 from it, and that's the year of birth for that particular artist's fan base. So, artists we identify with and listen to in our high school and early college years tend to stick with us. We then keep listening to this artist well past their prime because of the happenings and associations we make to the music of our time. Professor Zupolsky (sp) also inquired about food trends and body piercing trends and found similar veins - that once an "adventure window" closes, that a person is less likely to try something new if they haven't been exposed to it yet. In the case of new types of foods, if you've not experienced a new type of food by your mid to late 20's, you're not very likely to try it after that point. The window closes sooner for body piercings - especially tongue piercings. Apparently, according to one body piercer who was interviewed, if you don't have a tongue piercing by age 23, it most likely will not happen.

This got me to thinking about my own adventure window, especially since I'll be turning 35 soon. I'd like to believe that I'm not stuck in a rut, but admittedly, I'm not as likely to try new things now compared to when I was in my 20's. Some of it is good and actually is protective in nature - the fact that I no longer skydive means that I'll most likely have significantly less broken bones or sprained ankles, and gee, I might live longer. Some of it is bad and makes me feel old and crotchety, like when I hear some songs on the radio and gripe about the crap they try to pass off as music. Now, I'm not about to go out and get my tongue pierced, but I'd like to think I'm open minded enough to try a new food, visit a new place, or listen to music I've not heard before. Maybe my adventure window doesn't have to close all the way - maybe I can put up a screen to let little wafts of adventure into my life so that I don't get stuck in a rut and miss out on something fun.