04/03/2026
Novelty Is The Antidote To Time's Invisible Erosion I'm been thinking about this concept a lot recently. In my life I crave novelty above most things....I guess its the explorer in me. During this constant pursuit of novelty in my life I've found that it directly relates to our sense of time when we look at what we've done with our life retrospectively. Our brains are literally prediction machines constantly building models of the world to anticipate what comes next. When we spend too much time in deep routine our memory collapses; our brain sees no reason to store redundant information. When something unexpected happens our brain is forced out of autopilot, and that is where the power of novelty lies. Time not only slows down around novel moments, but when we look back at how we spent our lives, the cummulation of these novel moments literally shape our sense of time. Our brain encodes time not by the clock, but by the density of memories. That is why I love adventure trad multi-pitch climbs. I can’t think of a better way to interject novelty into our lives. Every new climb, every new move, every new gear placement, every new conversation had with a partner, every fall, every close call…nothing is guaranteed, everything unfolds before you as you lean into the unknown. What MAGIC! This is a reminder to purposefully introduce more novelty into your life. It could be anything new. Take a dance class, cook a new meal, hike a new trail, take a new way to work, try a new podcast….anything to break the routine and snap your brain out of autopilot and into the real world. You will live a longer life. This is Adventure Punks (10d) | Red Rock Canyon