Monday, July 13, 2009

BEFORE DEATH DO YOU PART

My entertaining InterPal, Natasha, has a list on her blog. A big fat list. Of 106 things. A list of all the stuff she wants to do before she's dead or nutso (whichever comes first, I guess). It's a nifty list.

Many people have created and displayed lists like this one, but what I especially like about Natasha's is that she crosses something off when she's done it. I'd imagine it gives a toe-tingling sense of accomplishment. (Yes, I am one of those people who writes things I've already done on my to-do list so that I can cross them off straightaway and begin my must-dos with an air of progress; so in seeing that Natasha has crossed things off, I feel satisfaction on her behalf. Large-living vicariously.)


Inspired by Natasha, I shall consider formally crafting my own list.
And so ought you.

In fact, to get you goin', I shall encourage you to deposit here a few bits of your list that you've been kickin' around. They don't have to be grandiose or unique, do they? And they don't necessarily need to be reasonable. Just stuff you'd really like to get done prior to your arrival in The Happy Hunting Ground or the loony bin. You can even include bits you've already done for a little taste of that delicious thing we call achievement.

Me, I want to
• be a spectator at Wimbledon
• experience Burning Man
get a bachelor's degree
• get my friggin' MFA already
go skydiving
• go skydiving again
• learn to sail
• write and publish a book
• see the aurora borealis
be unafraid to hold a headstand in the middle of the room
• get my scorpion handstand in the middle of the room (I promise to soon post an image of my progress on that one)
• become a crack shot
• publish a contribution in Real Simple
• get my CCW (permit to carry concealed weapon)
• make use of the six years of French I took and actually learn to speak the language
• go to the beach without giving a damn what I look like in my swimsuit
• have citrus trees
pixie-cut my hair
• see Niagra Falls
• plan and carry out an annual get-together with just my sissies
• landscape the backyard
• find John Galt
. . . to name a few.
It's a list I see burgeoning. And I see this post being updated as I read your want-to-dos. Hey, what a great idea. I want that on my list too . . .

Don't be shy now. The sky [or the grave, rather] is the limit.

12 comments:

it'sliketheweather said...

1. Go to France and try to use my eight years of French
2. Write and publish a novel.
3. Get to and stay at the weight on my driver's license.
4. Raise happy, well-rounded, informed and kind children who contribute to the world.
5. Learn to enjoy exercise.Done!
6. Marry a great man who wants to be a good dad.Done!
7. Be financially solvent.
8. Become a Bat Mitzvah at age 40.Done!

Jessica said...

1. have some babies
2. own a home
3. get my MSW (Master in Social Work) - half way there!
4. drive cross-country and take my time doing it to see the sights
5. go to hawaii
6. incorporate yoga into my daily life
7. give up dr. pepper FOR GOOD!

Alicia said...

This is a great challenge. I will do it. But not right now, I have to really think about this!

Shelby Lou said...

watch my dad be baptized
run a marathon
live on my own DONE
ride a horse
eat mushroom ravioli in forks
be a yoga instructor
go cliff jumping DONE

Jodi said...

travel to New Zealand
ride in a hot air balloon
buy a charming old house and fix it up
own my own bakery
learn to play the ukulele well
perfect the art of making sweet potato fries

Julie said...

Learn to be a really good cake decorator.
Sing "O Mio Babino Caro" in public.
Run a marathon, foot screws be damned.
Live on both coasts. (East coast done)
Take an artistic medium I already dabble in and master it to the best of my ability.
Finish every endeavor I start.
Decorate the "perfect" room.
Go back to Samoa.
Be a suicide prevention and mental illness activist.
Learn to love jeans more.
Be a better wife/mother.

Maria said...

1.)Have babies. Done(had four of them.)
2.)Travel to Italy to meet family members I have never met before.
3.)Go back to school and actually get my degree.
4.)Vacation in Hawaii. Done.
5.)Vacation in Hawaii again and again and again.
6.)Learn how to sew.
7.)Learn how to cut hair so I don't have to pay $15 every time my boys need one.
Gosh, I could go on and on... this is a good idea!

repliderium.com said...

"Find John Gault"
I just totally fell in love with you.

The Fear Fam said...

"Find John Galt." Love it.

Thanks for the reminder to revisit the list I made many, many years ago. I think I might be able to cross a few things off, like purchase a house (which we just did!) Whoo hoo!

rabidrunner said...

Watch you do a scorpion handstand. That will complete me.

Heather Johnson said...

To name a few:
Skydiving
Go in hot air balloon
Swim with dolphins
Go parasailing
Write a book
Fly a plane
Shave my head

The rest are on my blog, along with my brother's and sister's.

Anonymous said...

You'd think I would have seen this sooner. I'm so crappy about checking up on people's blogs. I forget. If you were on Facebook you could ping me everyday.

I had something published in Real Simple. Just one of those answers to their monthly questions. In November 2006.

I should add to my list and then cross it off: Get linked to and have my name repeated in one of Megan Romo's blog posts. :-)