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The truth about dares

Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Beverly Hills-based media psychiatrist, agrees with NBC10's Lu Ann Cahn that seeking out a new experience every day could help you shake the blahs.

Lu Ann's book, I Dare Me.
Lu Ann's book, I Dare Me.Read more

DR. CAROLE Lieberman, a Beverly Hills-based media psychiatrist, agrees with NBC10's Lu Ann Cahn that seeking out a new experience every day could help you shake the blahs.

"You feel like you're going down your bucket list - and making sure you won't have any regrets over missing out on something," Lieberman explained in an email. "You gain self-confidence with each new thing that you try. You feel like you can handle any challenge. Your self-assuredness makes you more attractive to friends and lovers."

Sounds good to me. Whenever I accomplish something new, it makes me feel like I can do even more. After participating in the Philly Marathon for the first time in 2011, I signed up the next year.

But the things you choose to break your routine don't have to be marathon-level. They can be as simple as baking and decorating a cake from scratch, the way that Cahn did on Day 277 of her yearlong challenge to try new experiences.

Here are five firsts from Cahn's upcoming book, I Dare Me: How I Rebooted and Recharged My Life by Doing Something New Every Day (Perigee, $22.95).

* Row on the river. Cahn signed up for free rowing lessons at Access to Rowing and Paddling Day, held in Philly every summer.

* Learn to put on fake eyelashes. Makeup artist Carie Brescia persuaded Cahn to try them. "I'm telling you, there's no mascara in the world that can do what a pair of false lashes can do," Cahn writes.

* Plant a potted herb garden. "Despite my utter and complete lack of care, I grew amazing sweet basil. I had enough basil for the neighborhood," Cahn writes. (She also shared some with this reporter.)

* Help serve a meal at a homeless shelter. Cahn went to the Trinity Center Men's Shelter in Philadelphia, but you could also volunteer for Meals on Wheels or some other service.

* Try soul line dancing. Cahn took a class with local-line dancing legend Kenny Johnson (iamkennyj.com). It wasn't a beginners class, but she had fun anyway.

- Jenice Armstrong