Facere

A lot of people these days are making lists of things that they would like to do before they die. They have been featured prominently on the Ellen show as "life lists." There are websites that you can place your list on and interact with others who have made lists. My first contact with such an idea was in my grade 9 language arts class. My teacher for that class was one of the assistant principles - the discipline one - and I loved him. He was an awesome teacher. One of the pieces we read was about a man (I forget his name) who had made a list as a teen, I beleive, and had gone on to do a lot of the stuff on it, and it was some pretty crazy, intense stuff. We had to pretend he was coming to speak at our school and give a talk introducing him (and make a list of our own, I think, but I don't really remember). But anyways, I have half-heartedly attempted to make my own list since then, and made lists with outrageous things that I thought I was supposed to want to do, but about last February I made a serious list of things I would really like to do and try and experience in this life. Some are your traditional life goals, some are fairly unique, some have no real mode of measurement, some will never truly be complete, some I have done already. It's still changing and evolving, as I'm sure it will continue to do throughout my life, but it's a start. Anyways, I'm going to post it here both because it'll give some insight into the person I am and the person I would like to become, and to remind myself of how I want to live my life. Many days there is a large gap between how I would like to live and how I really do live. I'm working on this. Perhaps I will explain some of them on here to give me ideas to write about. So here it is (red indicates things that I have done, blue are things that are in progress).

Take a road trip across Canada
Spend Canada Day in Ottawa
Become fluent in French
Learn Latin
Learn to play the piano/guitar
Visit the Vatican
Backpack around Europe
Earn my PhD
Own a house with a hot tub, fire place, and library
Have a huge book collection for said library
And music collection
And movie collection
Read the Bible
Visit the World Centers
Take a gourmet cooking class
Have a giant aquarium with lots of tropical fish
Take an airplane
Attend an Olympics opening/closing ceremony
Plant a tree when each of my kids are born
Watch a meteor shower
Buy Girl Guide cookies whenever they come to the door
Write a really good poem
Sleep under the stars
Keep a journal
Teach someone to read
Volunteer
Become a runner
Get a six pack
Be able to do a one handed push up
Go mountain biking
Hike the West Coast Trail
Own a trampoline
Learn a marital art
Try yoga
Go to more live music
Attend philosophy conferences/cafés/talks/whatever
Curl
Learn how to French braid my own hair
Own a cabin by a lake in the mountains
Visit all the National Parks
Ride a motorcycle
Slow dance under the stars/in the rain
Kiss under the stars/in the rain
Learn to dance
Find someone to say "I love you" to
Take a photography class
Climb a mountain
Go skating on a lake
Go skinny dipping
Attend midnight mass
Get my wisdom teeth out
Take a train
Learn how to sew decently
Learn to change a tire/oil/other basic car stuff
Learn to fix basic house stuff
Go camping by myself in the middle of nowhere
Sing in the shower (out loud)
Keep my first aid/CPR up to date
Watch a sunrise/sunset
Finish my cross stitch
Become an expert in one thing
See the Northern Lights (in the North)
Own a real painting (not a print)
Live in another language
Be an organ donor (after I die!)
Donate blood
Thank my teachers (and not just the ones from school)
Cry of happiness
Stay up all night long
Learn about other religions and visit a temple/mosque/synagogue/etc
Go a whole day without talking (losing my voice doesn’t count!)
Have a pet turtle/hedgehog
Laugh so hard I cry
Run along the beach
Go for a midnight hike
Have a vegetable garden
Read to my kids
Invent something
Solve a Rubik’s cube (without the help of the computer!)
Publish some writing
Throw somebody a surprise party
Watch lots and lots of fireworks
Make my house my own
Go cliff jumping (and actually jump)
Give up control and be OK with it
Spend a night in an ice castle
Be able to identify birds/trees/flowers/animal tracks
Learn how to use a compass
Learn how to tie knots!
Own a telescope
Take an astronomy class
Write letters about things that matter to people who are involved
Work in an election
Learn to tie a tie
Be able to eat with chopsticks
Go on a real picnic
Get a pedicure/manicure
Get a bikini wax
Attend a professional soccer game
Have really good sex
Have a pen pal from another country
Be able to light a one match fire
Go to an outdoor concert
Learn to write with my left hand
Buy a lottery ticket
Learn to make Grandma’s shortbread (and other various recipes)
Start a tradition
Learn to drive a standard
Write someone a love letter
Give up TV for a month
Make the first move
Own matching lingerie
Save 10% of each pay check
Make a piece of furniture
Give up wearing a watch for a week
Learn to wear contacts
Stop procrastinating
Make a time capsule
Be at peace with who I am and what I have done