I'M HERE FOR DOPAMINE LIVING

Wear bright colors. Eat chocolate, or toast, or whatever makes you happy. And dance.

Happy Friday, Friends! I scrolled past a post on Instagram that said something like, “What I’ve Learned From My Week of Dopamine Dressing.” For anyone unfamiliar with the concept of “dopamine dressing,” here’s the gist; wearing bright colors and/or your favorite outfit/s will lift your mood. It’s hardly an earth-shattering revelation. I suspect many of us know this, especially the kid I saw the other day, skipping down the aisle at Trader Joe’s in an Elsa from Frozen costume. Or just check out the gleeful people rocking their dopamine outfits on a number of Instagram and TikTok feeds including the original aggregator of older adult fashionistas, Advanced Style. Still, Glamour UK calls this style approach a “trend,” ergo, a short-lived fashion phase that will surely pass when shoppers abandon vibrant colors for drab sweat pants and those hideous potato Birkenstock sandals again. Please, good people of earth, I beg you not to let this happen.

Iris Apfel, the Supreme Queen of Dopamine Dressing. Photo from her Instagram feed.

As a lifelong “dopamine dresser,” I can back up the science that wearing fun clothes has brought me decades of joy. I would even go so far as to say my dopamine accessorizing extends beyond my wardrobe. My walls are adorned with pops of colorful dopamine artwork designed by my friend, Martine, along with a poster of my shero and the 101-year-old supreme queen of dopamine dressing, Iris Apfel. Dopamine knickknacks, like a Happy Cat, lucky bamboo, and photographs of loved ones surround my desk. A hummingbird feeder hangs outside my office window and every time I see a wee bird come to take a sip, BLAM, I get a hit of dopamine. Life can be challenging, so why not take healthy hits of dopamine wherever you can get them?

I’m Also Here for Dopamine Eating
Not sure this “trend” has caught fire yet, but I think enjoying what you eat is just as important as feeling good in your clothes. Years ago, my cholesterol started to creep up to “high.” This confounded and frustrated me because I’ve been a vegetarian since age 16, and eat very little dairy unless it’s baked into cookies or cakes. I do have a sweet tooth, but I consume sweets in moderation. My doctor suggested a vegetarian diet low in dairy (✔️), more cardio, and to eat oatmeal for breakfast every day. I’m a good student and yearn for positive results, so I did more cardio, and made oatmeal every day. I tossed in a handful of berries (low on the glycemic index) and even dumped rice bran on top, which was supposed to lower cholesterol. When I returned months later for a recheck, my cholesterol had only dropped by a measly ten points. How could this happen? I wondered. Could this be an aging-related issue? I did some googling and discovered that estrogen helps regulate metabolism of fats in the bloodstream. What this means is, as we women age, and our estrogen levels wane, our cholesterol often spikes. Translation: my high cholesterol wasn’t my fault! And stuffing dry porridge into my gullet every day for months on end was just a sad and Sisyphean waste of time. Thanks for nothing, Doc! I decided then and there, that if my cholesterol was going to be high no matter what, I may as well eat a dopamine-inducing breakfast. For me, that is toast. I love toast with avocado, or jam, or peanut butter and honey. I could eat tons of toast, but I usually just have one slice along with some berries and a banana. It makes my morning effing excellent.

118-Year-Old Nun Ate Chocolate Every Day
Some of you may have seen the latest crappy news that most dark chocolate contains lead and cadmium—a cancer-causing agent found in air, water, rocks, and cigarette smoke. (🏳). For years, we were told dark chocolate was the kale of chocolates, rich in anti-oxidants and a treat we should feel guilt-free ingesting daily. Le sigh. But here’s some dopamine reading to chase the dark chocolate blues aways. Just this week, the oldest woman in the world, Sister André, died in France at 118. She even survived Covid. Her secret? She enjoyed chocolate and wine every day. I don’t know if she ate dark chocolate, but the point is, chocolate and wine made her happy and indirectly helped her get into The Guinness Book of World Records! Huzzah.

Shaking Your Money Maker Reverses Signs of Aging on the Brain
Another great way to lift the spirits IMHO, is to dance. I take 2-3 dance classes on Zoom each week with the wonderfully jubilant Alessia Bonacci. She teaches many classes, but the one I love is called Dance For Your Life. For an hour, she leads us through a mix of dance styles like swing, salsa, hip hop, bachata, and more. The minute I start sashaying across the hardwood floor, I can feel the dopamine flowing. And according to Science Daily, dancing can reverse signs of aging on the brain. Here’s an excerpt: As we grow older we suffer a decline in mental and physical fitness, which can be made worse by conditions like Alzheimer's disease. A new study, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, shows that older people who routinely partake in physical exercise can reverse the signs of aging in the brain, and dancing has the most profound effect.

But don’t take this study’s word for it, listen to these older adults in Ann Arbor, Michigan who hit the dance floor every week at a local rock club and are having a blast. #SquadGoals.

Pre-pandemic, I loved dancing in clubs with a group of friends. We’d attend a yearly Stevie Wonder-themed dance night and a Prince-themed dance night. We’d shake our money makers and delight in the energy and group euphoria of moving our bodies to an infectious beat. I miss those nights, but I’m not comfortable returning to enclosed spaces with big crowds of sweaty people yet. I hope someday that will change, but until then, I’ll just dance around the house, wear bright colors, and eat toast to my heart’s content.

Sending a big thanks to my subscribers, readers, and commenters. You all bring me joy. Wishing you a dopamine-fueled weekend.