What I learned from the woman who does 52 new things a year | Emma Beddington
Mar 24, 2025
I definitely can’t match her sense of adventure – and I find real pleasure in my daily routines. But it is time to escape my hummus-tinged comfort zoneAs part of my puny striving towards personal growth, I am choosing not to feel personally attacked by learning about York resident Sally Millingt
on, who has been doing 52 new things a year since 2018. Millington’s 400-plus experiments span standup, bee-keeping, cliff-camping, jazz dance and busking dressed as a turkey (choose your own worst nightmare from that list). She’s clearly a force of nature and it’s an admirable commitment to getting out of your comfort zone. “Why not?” she told Radio York, explaining that her adventures helped to fuel her creative and critical thinking and forge connections with “amazing people I would never have ordinarily have met”.I struggled to stem the rising tide of inadequacy this threatened to unleash in me though, because I doubt I’ve done five new activities since 2018. I’m still struggling with the aftershocks of my regular supermarket closing and an “adventure” is trying a new brand of hummus. I did that this week – big mistake. Continue reading... ...read more read less