Being an adult is hard. We get stuck in our own little bubbles and just work, cook, and clean…and clean some more. (Seriously though…so much cleaning…) Sometimes we have hobbies beyond watching Netflix or HBO, but it’s hard to do things after work – even if we’ve been sitting for eight hours a day.

BUT….isn’t there that one thing you’ve always wanted to try or do. Maybe you want to learn how to play the piano, or you want to get back into playing the sport you loved when you were a kid. Maybe you want to learn a new language and then go visit a new country to practice. Whatever it is, it can be kind of scary to start as an adult and especially to start alone!

As adults, we’re not used to trying new things unless we get a new job or move to a new city. Even then there’s some guidelines in place for what we should and shouldn’t do. Starting something new when you know no one and you’ll (most definitely) be bad at it is scary! We’re not used to being bad at things once we reach a certain age. But it’s also exciting. You can be terrible and get better! Here are three tips to just start.

1. Do your research: Find a class that’s beginner friendly. I started going to ballet class as an adult without any foundation and did some in-depth research on beginner classes. Some classes claim to be for beginners, but you need a base level of knowledge to take it. In the end, I found a 6 week beginner class that claimed to be for people with no dance background and it was! It was great to be with people and learn with adults who had no background in dance. We could all fumble along together.
2. Try it out: If you can’t determine if it’s a beginner class, you can call and find out. If you’re still not sure then, take a deep breath, and just go. If you hate it and feel out of your depth you don’t have to go back! You’ll never see those people again so be as terrible as you can be. But at least you’re trying.
3. Keep going: Maybe you enjoyed the class. Go back! Maybe you felt foolish. Go back! Or if you didn’t like it at all (like one dance class I tried where the teacher was rather rude), then don’t go back. Find something else! We have the freedom to choose what we do and don’t do and where we spend our money, so spend your time and money on things you enjoy. 🙂

I hope to get back into ballet now that the studio is open again. And I want to try a few other things – some recipes, go to some new museums, and just generally get out of my apartment again. What do you want to try?

Until next time.