Try Something New
That is the challenge of the day. Try something new. To me this is not a difficult challenge other than I have an adventurous pallet and have already tried A LOT. Growing up, my grandfather would take us to ethnic restaurants, buy platters of everything on the menu, and require us to take three bites of everything. He said you can't really decide if you like something by only taking one bite. The first bite is filled with terror and the our preconceived ideas about how we are not going to like it. The second bite is a way of creating our own idea about what we've tried. And the third is a way of confirming our assessments. After our third bite, we could choose not to continue with that item or we could add it to our arsenal of flavors.
Because we were encouraged to try, I have tried a lot. I embraced Grandpa's philosophy on trying new things. I am usually the first in my group of friends to take a sample. I try not to influence them by telling them how something tastes because I don't want to ruin their first experience with a new flavor.
This is a long way of saying that my challenge wasn't in trying something new but in finding something I haven't already tried. I wanted my choice to be something I could work with withing the parameters of the assignment. So I asked my friends to give me ideas of what I should try. And then went with none of them.
What I Tried
I decided to go with a fruit I've never tried before. I had originally decided on the ugli fruit. I took an exploratory trip to Mejiers because I had heard that they had a great selection of unusual fruits and vegetables. And did they ever! I ended up buying $30 worth of new fruits. I bought the ugli fruit, a blood orange, a star fruit, a prickly pear (which I really thought was a made up fruit from the jungle book, but low and behold it is real), and kumquats. And I tried them all. Some were good, others were disappointing.
What I Chose
I decided to create my projects around the kumquat. And there is a reason for that. When I was little my mom always called me her little kumquat. I thought a kumquat was a nut or a melon. I had no idea it was a citrus fruit. I had no idea it was tiny. And I had no idea you ate the whole thing. Funny thing is....neither did mom. She just like the name "kumquat."
What I Did
I decided that because I was a visual communicator, I could not fall back on my normal visual methods. I don't know if you know this about me but I am a little competitive, and have a driving desire to go one step further. That being said, I decided to create a textural and audio experience. I will be handing out a small item to everyone in the classroom. I will have everyone close their eyes while I play a sound clip. While they are listening, they will be rolling their item in their hands. I wanted to create an experience that utilized more than a visual. I want to eliminate the visual all together. I want my classmates to rely only on their senses of hearing and touch.
I should probably explain the flavor for anyone who has never tasted a kumquat. To begin it looks like a baby orange. But unlike an orange, you eat the entire thing (there is no peeling.) You wash it, you roll it in your fingers to release the oils, you pop it in your mouth, and chew. It starts off quite tart as you first get the juices exploding in your mouth. But as you chew, the peel is very sweet and that sweet begins to overtake the tart juice. It's quite delicious and is an unexpected experience. Please don't listen to the audio until you have the texture in your hands.
and just to let you know, the audio clips were found at freesound.com and were mixed in Adobe Audition. Below are the links to the individual sounds that I utilized.
https://www.freesound.org/people/MeloMuzika_com/sounds/173205/download/173205__melomuzika-com__violinloop-am-1.mp3
https://www.freesound.org/people/kake85/sounds/247881/download/247881__kake85__overall-quality-of-single-note-violin-e6.wav
What I Hope
I hope that everyone had a good experience with trying something new. You can't know if you'll like something if you don't try it. So many people miss out on amazing experiences because they are afraid to step out of their comfort zone. The trick to having an amazing life is to expand your comfort zone. That can only be done by these small steps...trying something for the first time.
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