Living a life of great adventures means doing things differently. Not doing what you’ve always done so you always get what you’ve always got. Every year the Christmas pressure and commercialism yanks me to my couch in frustration. So, what does an adventurer do? Change!

I’ve started a new Christmas tradition. The Jewish Christmas eve. I know it’s an oxymoron. But that’s the whole point. I know if you’re a traditional Christian or a person of the Jewish faith, this may not make sense. But, consider that we are all celebrating the holidays in one way or another. So why not try a new path? Last night I decided to do just that…

Adventure Tip: When you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. So, do something new!

Happy Holidays!
-Tracy Pattin

Great adventures are about shaking things up. Doing things in a different way no matter what people think.  Instead of doing the usual Christmas eve,  I’ve decided to convert….to a brand new kind of Christmas. I’ve begun a new tradition- A Jewish Christmas. Yes, I said Jewish Christmas. I know it’s an oxymoron..But those are my favorite kinds of experiences. Oxymoronic. Contradictory adventures. The unexpected.

Many Jewish people celebrate their Christian counterparts on Christmas by eating Chinese food and going to the movies. My friend Michael Cohen and I went to a crazy Chinese restaurant where the owner, an older Chinese woman, is known to be, shall I say, a little intense? She’s sort of like the “Soup Nazi” on Seinfeld.

So off we went to be harassed and entertained in celebration of my new tradition. It was perfect! This Chinese diner, Hunan Cafe in West Hollywood, is  the kind you see peppered all along Stockton street in San Francisco and Hong Kong.

As soon as we got our green tea and water, I spotted the owner. She immediately came over and lectured me. Something about moving my purse and jacket from the empty chair. After eating our delicious Wanton Soup and chicken chow mein, we both felt a little light headed. I asked the owner if there was MSG in the food. She quickly denied it, telling us we were big water drinkers. Must have been the hot sauces that we put on the chow mein.

After our Jewish Christmas Dinner we headed over to the Laemmle theatres to see the movie, “Precious”….An amazing film that makes you think about your own life and being grateful. What a perfect experience on a perfect Jewish Christmas eve.

So there you have it. A great new tradition is born. Stay tuned for next year. Another Chinese restaurant, another movie, another great midlife adventure.

Holiday Adventure Tip: Shake up your tradition. Do something different this year or next. Consider a brand new way to create the spirit of giving. KEEP DOING IT ALL YEAR LONG!

-Tracy Pattin

“Where Hi-Tech meets Low Tech for tea and chocolate”

There’s a whole world of adventure out there…right here…at your fingertips. It’s the world of the internet; Social Media, New Media, YouTube, blogs, podcasts, videos! As Video Blogger sensation (Wine Library TV) Gary Vaynerchuk says, “This is the time to make your dreams come true.” Anyone can get their message out there to the world via video, audio, personal essays, blog posts. Anyone can get their products out there to the world. And you can distribute for very little money! The flood gates have opened. But, so many get stumped, stuck, paralyzed by the not knowing part. The overwhelm. “How and where do I begin?” On New Media Tea Time, Living Careers.net’s Danielle Gruen and moi, team up to share our knowledge, tips, ideas, on how to navigate this Social Media, New Media madness. Oh, if that’s not enough, we pepper the show with chocolate and tea tidbits. The fabulous feline Hailey is purring somewhere nearby absorbing all this tantalizing info. In webisode #13, Danielle and Tracy talk about how to personalize and customize your Twitter page. And of course check out the customized chocolate from a local Los Angeles chocolatier, Dore Chocolatt and a delicious new tea!

Click above and LISTEN instead.

The other day I got one of the very few holiday cards sent to me this year. (I haven’t sent cards in ages so I deserve this dearth of holiday greetings). It was one of those mass produced, over sized envelopes, so hermetically sealed that I had to rip the envelope to shreds to get to the card.

After all that work, there it was, the ubiquitous picture of the kids (why are the parents never in the shot? I always know them better than their offspring, in fact I probably wouldn’t recognize the little tikes if I passed them on the street!). The two kids were in a canoe in a swamp-like pond, sunglasses on, with a “do-I have-to-pose-for-this-dreadful-picture?” look on their faces. They were so far away in the shot, it made me wonder if the parents just shot a picture of a couple of random kids floating by, so they could get the damn card done in August!

Oh, and there was no message in the card, just embossed names of the family members.

This made me wonder, why do we send holiday cards at all? Oh, I know. If someone sends you a card, you have to return the gesture. But, who started sending the card in the first place? I guess it’s one of those chicken/egg analogies. Anyway, if that’s not the reason, chances are it’s a business thing. A perfect time to keep yourself in front of past and potential clients under the guise of the holiday spirit.

My longtime friend, Gale, announced to me last night that she was sending 6 holiday cards this year and I wouldn’t be one of the recipients. It was okay. She did it for practical reasons. She just wanted to let the people she’d lost touch with, know that she wasn’t dead.

So there you have it. All the reasons for sending a holiday message. Which is exactly why I don’t send any cards. Here’s a suggestion. How about sending cards throughout the year to all those people on your list, perhaps in June, wishing them happiness for the rest of the year? Why not surprise them? They’ll never think it’s something obligatory, so the gesture will be more like the reason to send a card in the first place. Just because you were thinking of them.

This is a very different kind of midlife adventure. Maybe because in midlife we’ve had so many holiday experiences causing us to have a new outlook on its meaning. For me? I toggle between cynicism and hilarity.

Or, like my friend Gale, you could send an “I’m not dead” card, for a real surprise and maybe even a good laugh.

Adventure Tip: Create your own holiday ritual by NOT sending the obligatory cards. Surprise your loved ones with a mid-year message celebrating having them in your life. Unlike the plethora of hermetically sealed holiday cards, they’ll remember and cherish this very special gesture.

-Tracy Pattin