From the Top of the Hill Before Going OverI turned 39. I don't have any qualms about getting older--I feel like 50 is when I will really hit my stride--but approaching the end of a decade feels significant. Especially this decade: thirty-something Emily resembles nothing so much as the steel ball in a pinball machine. Sure, I hit a lot of targets and accumulate lots of points through life smacking me in the face and sending me spinning back into play, but I suspect it will feel great to finally make it past the flippers and into the next ten years. Even so, this decade taught me so much about joy, grief, love, pain, when to fight to the death, when to surrender, and (sometimes) how to know which situations call for which approach. I'm grateful for all those lessons, much as I resisted many of them. I've always been an overachiever, though, so my goal is to squeeze as much life and learning as I can into the next 365 days and slide into 40 thinking, "Damn, I did that right." Therefore I present the following list of 40 things I want to do before I turn 40: (in spite of the numbers, there's really no particular order to this--I just needed to be able to keep track of how many things were on the list) 1. Learn to dance (in public) again 2. See a stand-up comedian or improv show 3. See three plays from different genres 4. Pick a local venue and watch at least four bands perform there 5. Make a list of six all-time favorite books and six new books; read one each month, alternating old and new 6. Take an in-person photography class or participate in a workshop that requires printed work and face-to-face feedback from the instructor 7. Shoot at least one roll of film on manual settings 8. Learn to develop film in a darkroom 9. Do a daily photo challenge and actually keep up with it 10. Visit photography exhibits in at least three different museums 11. Pick a theme and develop a monthly photo series around it 12. Take a photo walk in at least four different neighborhoods 13. Go to one of these: http://poisonpenreadingseries.com/blog2/ 14. Take a writing class or participate in a workshop 15. Write a short story and actually let someone read it 16. Write something in a journal every day, even if it's only a sentence 17. Make phone calls as often as possible instead of sending texts or emails 18. Send at least one handwritten letter or card every week 19. Spend a day at the beach (I dislike the beach; this would be way out of my comfort zone) 20. Go hiking 21. Go fishing 22. Sleep under the stars at least once 23. Tell ghost stories around a campfire 24. Go to a haunted house 25. Take a cooking class 26. Take an overnight road trip somewhere completely new 27. Take two day trips to new places 28. Go to a professional soccer game or some other unfamiliar sporting event 29. Use public transportation or walk everywhere for one entire day (this will be a major challenge in Texas) 30. Learn to parallel park with confidence 31. Find a new favorite place to get breakfast tacos 32. Play pub trivia (and try not to become obnoxiously competitive about it) 33. Send someone flowers out of the blue 34. Go to celebrations from at least two different cultures, starting with this one: http://lunarnewyearhouston.com/2016-year-of-the-red-fire-monkey/ 35. Go to the rodeo 36. Ride a rollercoaster that goes upside down 37. Go tubing on the Frio or Guadalupe 38. Go sailing 39. Take at least one overnight trip with friends 40. Plan a really fun way to celebrate my 40th birthday And since any series of adventures needs a theme song:
2 Comments
Margie F
2/3/2016 10:02:06 pm
I know how to develop B&W film. At least I used to. If Rice still has a darkroom, maybe we could go play! It's super easy.
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Emily
2/4/2016 11:37:23 am
I would LOVE to try the darkroom with you! Let me know how to put the wheels in motion for that one. And the photography exhibit sounds really interesting. I will check it out soon.
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Meet Emily:Mother, photographer, writer. Expert in making things up as she goes and figuring things out along the way. Archives
March 2020
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