Everyone has a list of dreams they want to accomplish “before they die”. I attended a conference a number of years ago where attendees were required to populate such a list with 50 such ideas, be they small or grandiose. Many of us never managed to decide on 50. I don’t think that was the point; moreso it was the exercise of stretching the mind, of relearning how to dream big and recognizing that in the effort of doing so, and commiting ideas to paper something remarkable happens. We commit ourselves to something more than the ordinary every day.
I don’t even recall everything that was on that list back then; there is a new one in progress, and it is far more in progress that the embryonic original ever was. Someday I’ll probably look back on this one, realize this list was infantile, and that I have matured beyond it. Someday. But today this is my list that I’ve been working from this past year-ish.
1. Live debt free, low on the consumerism chain. – Not sounding very bucket list-ish, but really a hard feat for a lot of people, and an accomplishment goal. I believe in living debt free and have done so for as long as I have been able. So to work back to that state after my divorce is at the top of this bucket list. Freedom from debt removes a person from a lot of the fear prevalant in economic upheaval.
There was an amazing experiment that occurred in British Columbia called the 100 Mile Diet. While I admit I’ve never been much of an extremist in any situation, it is a fascinating look at how to break the consumerism chain and live more healthy in the process. There are certainly adaptable ideas.
Concepts like craigslist, kijiji, and The Freecycle Network are great places for discerning eco-consumers to stretch their dollars. By keeping a business policy of “buyer beware” and doing my homework ahead of time, I’ve been able to purchase many things secondhand, and give them a new life. I have acquired a lot of beautiful solid wood furniture this way.
2. Go into space. – I have had a love of astronomy since childhood days spent staring through a telescope with my dad in our backyard and learning about stars, planets, comets, auroras, and many other astronomical wonders. Before marine biology, there was astronomy, and a desire to become an astronaut. Obviously I’m not an astronaut, nor am I an uber-billionaire able to purchase a civilian seat on a shuttle, so I’m settling for something less glamorous.
This is the International Year of Astronomy with numerous events happening all over. In attending, one can procure a card with a number attached. By going online and entering that number on the IYA website, your name becomes included on a roster of names included on the next Canadian satellite to be launched into space next year.
It is a small thing. Certainly. But there is something wondrous in knowing that a small part of oneself is going into space. Even just your name. Dream accomplished!
3. Live in another country. This was on my list from before and was always a really big dream of mine. I actually did accomplish this a couple years ago as I had the opportunity to live in the US for a year and really experience living there, not just visiting. Despite the two countries being very similar, there are enough differences to make the experience unique. There are distinct cultures in the United States and it was fascinating to get to see that on a day to day basis. It certainly wasn’t an exotic locale, but when you’re married you often have to work with what you can. I was happy for the chance to check another dream off the list.
4. Experience a space shuttle launch. I use the word ‘experience’ for a reason. I have watched a space shuttle launch on television many times, but I wan’t to be as close to ground zero someday. I have heard that even from where the crowds are seated, the noise is deafening, and the ground shakes. The stories that people share are wondrous and wonderful. I want to share those stories someday. If I can’t be on a space shuttle, I want to experience as much of it as I possibly can. Haven’t accomplished this one yet, but as long as NASA keeps sending people up, my window of opportunity isn’t lost.
5. Geo-caching. This has got to be one of the neatest ideas. Children’s scavenger hunt meets high-tech meets roadtrip. How can that just not be fun? Geocaching has been on my ’must do’ list for a very long time. I was, unfortunately, married to a very non-adventurous person. With that behind me, and being home amongst old friends who are more atuned to the life I once lived, I was happily surprised to discover an old roommate and her boyfriend are avid geocachers. Tomorrow, I cross this off my list. At least for the first time. I expect there shall be many more adventures to follow. My inner tomboy needs some dusting off….so do my hiking boots.
6. Return to my musical “roots”. Music runs in my veins, in my family. It isn’t that we’re popular so much as we’re musical. A GG-grandfather of mine was a drummer and toured England in a number of bands; he even got a stint with an American band led by John Philip Sousa. My GG-grandmother, his first wife, was a lovely ballerina. It is a romantic story. Music follows through their bloodline, through my grandmother, my dad, and eventually me. The piano that is now in my possession was purchased by my grandmother as a memorial of her father and his love of music. She purchased the piano instead of flowers on the event of my great-grandfather’s funeral. She said that it made no sense to send flowers back to England, flowers that would be dead when they arrived. Instead she took the money and made a down payment on a piano which has long outlasted the flowers and I have no doubt he would have approved. She believed the same. My goal, after so many years is to return to taking piano and vocal lessons. To retrain my hand/eye coordination, retrain my ear, retrain my vocal chords. I want to go back and challenge the exams if I have to, learn the theory I missed out on, and eventually be able to teach. Possibly write. I can transpose and do arrangements, but writing requires some technical abilities I lack — at least good writing does. I don’t care about being famous, I’m not enough of an exhibitionist to want that. I would like to use my music in a therapeutic practice, and to teach those who want to learn to express without words, what is in their hearts. That’s the beauty of music.
7. Parasailing/gliding. I’ve already accomplished skydiving. I can’t say enough about it. It was my way of overcoming a fear of heights. I decided that I couldn’t possibly go any higher than 10,000 feet in the air, and jump. What was going to be scarier than that? It has been the most exhilirating experience in my life. Freefalling is….heaven. My memories are treasured. But I’ld love to try parasailing or gliding – the sailing being the version where you’re pulled by a boat or other vehicle, the gliding where basically you just run and jump off a cliff with your parachute behind you. Insane? Probably. But then again, I liked cliffjumping — I was usually the only girl in the group who would join the guys in jumping off the cliffs into the river, when we stopped during rafting trips. We’re probably dumb. But, again, exhilirating. And honestly, I have truly had a fear of heights….I still don’t like getting too close to the edge just standing. Don’t really know why jumping is any different.
8. See Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages. I have already fulfilled a number of goals when it comes to theatre shows that I’ve “always wanted to see”. In one year, I went to “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Cats”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Cinderella”, and the next year, finally!, “The Nutcracker” ballet. But ever since Phantom hit the world stage, I have wanted to see it at the Pantages – I may never be able to see it with Sarah and Michael, but at least I can still fulfill my dream of sitting in one of the most beautiful theatres in the world to watch one of the most astonishingly brilliant musicals ever created.
9. Begin practicing Tai Chi again. I studied this back in college, extra-curricularly, and loved it. Then a friend of mine became an instructor and we would practice tai chi at the park in the midst of my apartment complex. It’s been awhile since, and I’ve forgotten a fair amount of it, but I don’t doubt it’ll be like riding a bicycle. It truly is an elegant martial art/dance.
Dialectics (aka oral explorations)