Advent-turous Gift Guide: 28 Unexpected Christmas Calendars to Crack Open Right Now

Tis the season to be merry, but with the pandemic surging and new restrictions going into effect seemingly daily, it’s more likely we’re all in for another month of monotony. Unfortunately, those boring silent nights don’t bring joy to the world and might be actively making us more depressed. Research published in the journal Nature Neuroscience in May linked enhanced happiness and other positive emotions with new, diverse experiences, and found that this connection is related to a greater correlation of brain activity in the hippocampus and the striatum (a.k.a. the brain zones associated with the processing of novelty and reward). “Our results suggest that people feel happier when they have more variety in their daily routines, go to novel places, and have a wider array of experiences,” explains New York University assistant psychology professor Catherine Hartley, who coauthored the paper. “These results suggest a reciprocal link between novel and diverse experiences and our subjective sense of well-being.” But how to go from bah humbug to fab la la la with most normal strategies for shaking up routines like traveling, gathering with friends and family, dating, and even dining in new restaurants either unavailable or unsafe logistical nightmares in 2020?… Read full this story

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