All the best coming of age stories start with something new, a new person, place, or job. We’ve come to believe in the tales of Salinger and Kerouac — a young Holden or Sal, setting off to find themselves, free from the dull constraints of home to discover life as they think it should be.

Even today, its why students everywhere go abroad. We leave for a semester, seeking solace amongst new cultures and friends. We return more mindful and full of clarity — some small terror brimming underneath as we return home, afraid to lose our newfound sense of self.

But perhaps we have taken these stories a bit too literally. Rather than ask why or how we found clarity, we seek to emulate that sense of newness. We travel as often as possible, start new hobbies or projects, jump from friend to friend, all in search of that fleeting newness. Or, put another way, running away from the everydayness in our wake.

What’s important in this search isn’t the objects, or the places, or the people. Its perspectives. The newness of Spain or Iceland or London forces us to look at the everydayness in a new way. The new projects give us room to think differently, reconsider our approach. But why can’t we do this every day? Isn’t it possible that maybe we’ve just forgotten how to experience the mundane? We’ve relegated the present moment for a hit of something different. But, sometimes, all we need is to take a second look.

Instead of traveling to a new place, go abroad in your own life. There is always something worth looking at, worth digging into; we need to be open to it. Newness forces us to open our minds to new possibilities and new ways of being. But what if we decided to skip the hit of novelty and open ourselves up first? Chances are we can and will find meaning in the everyday.

We don’t need to go searching elsewhere for ourselves. We only need to be open to exploring within ourselves. When we reconsider the present, truly absorb what’s around us, and our place in it, we can discover just as much clarity as in any road trip.

Find newness in the mundane. It exists, as long as we believe its there. Open yourself up, take a second look, the clarity we are all searching for is there, and we don’t always need a plane ticket to go searching for it — only a willingness to experience this moment for what it is.