go. see. do.

i was at a brunch {ornament exchange party} today, when one of my friends started reading, off of her iPhone, the things that are on her bucket list.

i sat there listening, and soon the words flowing from her mouth began to blur together before they reached my ears. you see, my mind had wandered off in a direction of its own after hearing the first half of her list.

i realized... i don't have {nor have i ever had} a bucket list. i've had some goals. some hopes. some dreams. some expectations. but up until tonight, i had not made a list.

i think the biggest reason for that is because i live too much within the limitations put on me by things like my age or my financial state or my level of knowledge or skills set. i also grew up in a modest home where we did not have enough money to do much traveling or participate in extracurricular learning/training {like music lessons or skiing lessons}. so i sort of learned to be content without those things.

i did a lot of traveling in college, and right after college, my best friend at the time was doing a lot of traveling, so she would plan trips, and i would show up and "enjoy the ride". but i think other than that, i grew content with simple trips to the beach on lake michigan or rides downtown all dressed up to hear the chicago symphony orchestra or the occasional concert pianist.

one of my favorite quotes is "dwell in possibility". {it's actually from an emily dickinson poem, i believe.}

i realized i have not been dwelling there... in possibility. i've been dwelling in practicality or probability. there are so many things that are possible if i put my mind to it. there are so many things i would like to do. so i'm almost forty... so what? they are saying forty is the new twenty anyway, right? i can still do so many things! and i want to! maybe i can't do them all. and maybe i won't have the money to do some of them. but i can at least put them on the list.

i was talking to a friend about goals and these sort of lists once. he said that a harvard study was once conducted where a group of people were asked what their goals for the next ten years were. only part of that group was asked to also write those goals down. the other part of the group was not. the study showed that over the course of the next 10 years, the group that wrote down their goals was 90% more likely to go after and achieve those goals than the group that did not write them down.

so i'm writing them down. {or typing, if you want to get technical.} i don't have my list fully compiled yet. i'm sure it's something that will be growing and evolving. although i have a few things for the list already, i'm not going to write it all in one sitting. i'm going to think carefully about it. i'm going to ponder the things i am passionate about and have always wanted to do. i'm not just going to add something to it because it is trendy or because someone else did it and i want to say i did it too. it's going to be a list of things i really want to do.

it's not complete, but i'll share just a few here now. i'll be sure to let you know as i add more. i might even add it to my sidebar. okay. here is what i have so far.

1. travel to israel, new zealand and to where the mayan and incan ruins are {you can be sure a lot more travel destinations will be added}
2. sing in a coffee house with the accompaniment of a guitarist
3. take a photography class... maybe even two or three
4. have my photography shown in a gallery {if i ever get good enough... oh, wait. i'm supposed to be dwelling in possibility here. when i get good enough.}
5. go on a missions trip to any place that needs me
6. sky dive {that one terrifies me}
7. have or adopt a baby
8. own and run my own business
9. learn to play piano {i had started taking lessons in my late 20s, but chose to quit so i would have more time to plan my wedding.}
10. visit all the frank lloyd wright structures that i can
11. watch all three movies of the lord of the rings trilogy {extended versions} in one day
12. vacation in se juan teneo, mexico {that is, if it still looks like it did in the movie shawshank redemption}
13. make an entire thanksgiving meal and bring it to a home that is without food and fellowship and eat with them
14. meet daniel barenboim
15. become debt free and stay that way indefinitely {i'm really close to the first half of this one, and i can not wait to achieve it. it should actually be first on my list, because it is the most important to me.}
16. finish a book {that's sort of a joke, for those of you who really know me.}

well, just so you don't think i've never done anything at all... there are some things i have always wanted to do that i did. i wanted to take a watercolor class, and i did {and loved it!}. i went white-water rafting on the colorado river. i saw the grand canyon {which everyone should do in their lifetime}. and i finished four years of college and graduated with a bachelor's degree. i traveled around europe for a month with a choir and sang in some of the most beautiful cathedrals. perhaps not a greatly impressive list, but accomplishments and things i am proud of or feel blessed to have experienced none the less.

all i know is i don't want to sit at a stoplight all my life. as in the photo, i want to be like that truck. those rollerbladers. that dog.

i want to...
go. see. do.

so... i'm curious. do you have a bucket list? what's on yours?