Is variety really the spice of life?

MANY of us have heard this expression many times during the course of our lives – ‘variety is the spice of life’.

It originated from English poet William Cowper’s 1785 poem ‘The Task’. In full, he had actually written: “Variety’s the very spice of life that gives it all its flavour.”

It simply highlights how new experiences and changes make our lives more exciting, much like spices add that extra oomph to our food.

It also means that we should feel at liberty and at ease to personally enjoy and embrace all things new, innovative or different.

Taken a step further besides such culinary delights, there are places, people and even just small changes or major lifestyle adjustments that can add some excitement, zest and wonder, and stall the monotony of a normal routine – making life richer and more enjoyable.

As early as the first-century BC, Publilius Syrus had written: “No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety.”

This could well be the slogan for many of today’s generation of the fun-seeking, well-educated, culturally-clued in, artificial intelligence (AI)-mentored and social-media-saturated community – always in search of the next new trend or ‘super high’.

We have entered an era where there actually exists within anyone’s reach whatever he can imaginatively wish for, within legal and lawfully applicable limits (or not!), as long as he has the means to procure it.

Let’s take a closer look at what it entails for us to observe and celebrate such a ‘variety of our personal choices’ in our lives today, if we’re to follow this formidable credo.

From the moment we wake up at home in the morning, we would go through our rituals of refreshing and cleansing ourselves – let’s start with trying out some new brands in our soaps, shampoos and toothpaste.

Next, going to the kitchen to make breakfast – how about having a different morning cuppa: switch tea for coffee perhaps, with juices, eggs, toasts and so forth?

Maybe try your eggs cooked a different way for a change?

If you’re going out for breakfast, one could try a new coffee shop and a different choice of food – maybe something you’ve never had before?

Why not invite a different friend or companion along to make the occasion even more interesting?

Of course, there are certain fixtures, places and appointments that you cannot change at all – for instance, your gym membership, your family club and your regular hair salon and medical specialists.

As for friends, it would be really refreshing for you to call someone whom you had used to socialise with in the past, but have lost touch with; or even an old school-mate, a work colleague, or a long lost family member.

That’d be quite exciting, no?

One could really write down a rather long list of things that ‘I’d love to do, didn’t have the time’, or just not making that extra effort’ to get round to doing it.

Out-of-the-blue suggestions, last-minute ideas and even just a sudden craving for something – be it just for ice-cream, to buy a new pair of jeans or to take a walk in the park – could spark an interesting outing for either spouse, friend or your companion at that moment.

Spontaneous occasions, sudden impulses and surprise meetings have often ended up being the most memorable of times.

For our Christmas family dinner just this past year, we had our usual roasted turkey (this time, from Brazil and not the USA) and a leg of ham from Spain with all the usual trimmings and sides.

A good friend of my brother Edric, however, surprised us with some of her very delicious home-made beef rendang and ‘lemang’ (glutinous rice cooked in bamboo), so we had a very nicely ‘spiced-up dinner!’

Outside the sphere of our daily normal routine stuff will be the special plans for the future.

How often have we been faced with having to decide on our plans: where to spend the holidays; what model of car, television or fridge to buy; should we move house or renovate; and other important decisions.

To be truthful, what do you expect the answers to be?

The majority of the answers would almost always be the same, mainly because we feel safe and secure from going to the same places, buying the same brands and staying in the same area.

It’s only human that we prefer to stay within our comfort zone, be it a place, a product or something that we consume.

That’s when opportunity knocks, and Mr Samuel Johnson (1758) steps in: “The joy of life is variety; the tenderest love requires to be rekindled by intervals of absence.”

One more just to be sure: ‘Variety is the soul of pleasure’ (Aphra Behn, 1681).

From a personal perspective, I have always subscribed to this credo and tried to abide by it insofar as my own lifestyle is concerned.

However, it can only be followed to a certain extent and has its limits when it comes to wishful imagined desires versus ‘reality bites’ moments.

From being a teenage boy till youthful adulthood, I had ventured to try everything within imaginable means and whatever limited resources there were in between the 1960s and 1970s.

I would happily consume whatever new or strange food and drinks and other edibles, and would have no second thoughts on trying ‘something new’ within limits of the law and common decency.

Throughout most of my life, I have had the good fortune and opportunity to indulge in virtually every possible manner of travel, every desirable destination of choice, every food and drink I could possibly want, and certainly most of my personal wishes fulfilled.

After such a life filled with the richness of variety in all its forms, I am now happily settled to a life at the other end of the spectrum – one of normalcy, the beauty and love for the ordinary, the normal, the mundane, and the every-day.

There is comfort, strength and steadfastness in the ‘ordinary two eggs, coffee and toast for breakfast; noodles for lunch; and chicken and vegetables for dinner’ kind of life.

I would like to conclude with this great quote from Sir Isaac Newton: “All variety of created objects which represent order and life in the universe could happen only by the wilful reasoning of its original Creator, whom I call the ‘Lord God.”