Why Your Life Needs Novelty, No Matter Your Age (1)

In 2018, I had what I call a powerful first experience.
At 31 years old,
I made my first snow angel.
Now, that may not sound powerful to some of you,
but for me, it was.
And so how do you get from New York City to Montana?
Well, you have to have a horse.
I don't make the rules,
but not having a horse is why so many people don't make it out there.
I'm kidding.

I was actually invited to attend and speak at a conference in Big Sky.
I'm a kid from the Bronx, so I knew nothing about Big Sky.
I knew nothing about Montana.
In fact, I had only recognized images similar to it as the screen saver that comes on whenever my MacBook goes idle.
I landed in Bozeman and the first thing I did was thank God,
because I don't like flying, even though I have to do it often.
I walked out of the airport and I saw no skyscrapers,
no lines and cabs,
no people yelling and arguing,
and there were no funny smells that I was familiar with.
You know, all of the things that make NYC amazing.

So fast forward,
I'm in the passenger seat of the car and I'm looking out the window
and I'm just taking on the views.
Mountains covered in snow, trees everywhere.
And at one point we pass by these homes that had to be worth millions of dollars
because they had the most beautiful view of the environment.
Later the next day, as I'm getting off stage from speaking,
a woman comes up to me and she asks,
"Would you like to go on a hike?"
Now I’m from New York City, so a hike is a few city blocks.
New York City is at sea level, so we're talking about real oxygen.

So, no, this was a hike.
And at 8,000 feet elevation,
one quickly realizes Montana's oxygen just isn't real.
Midway through our hike, I can't remember what I said,
but the woman grabs a fistful of snow,
puts it in her mouth and she starts to chew.
And my initial thought was, "That was disgusting."
I would never touch anything that touches a New York City street.
But then I realized this was snow from Montana,
and this was symbolic of the relationships Montanans have with their environment.
So towards the end of the hike,
this woman lays down in a bed of snow
and she moves her body in a way where [it] registers to me,
she's making a snow angel.