A couple weeks ago, I grappled with the arbitrariness of January 1st as the start of the New Year and declared that MY year starts on MY birthday. I’m also too good to have resolutions, I have goals, I have plans, I am an advanced elegant creature who eats cheesecake and never gains an ounce and always has perfectly silky hair.
So anyway, my deepest apologies for sounding like a sanctimonious twit way back two weeks ago. We all go through phases. You know, you really shouldn’t be so judgmental.
Anyway, my birthday is tomorrow so in celebration of the 31st year of Shilo, I’ve taken time out of my precious life of unemployment to share my list of 31 plans for the next year.
Yeah, yeah, I know. The year you turn 31 is actually your 32nd year. Back off pickypants, this is my list and I’m doing it my way.
Ok! Here goes!
1. Take lessons and become a stronger swimmer
2. Grow herbs that taste as good as the ones at the market
3. Make a duvet cover based on Elsworth Kelly’s “Colors for a large wall”
4. Go to a wine tasting
5. Go snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef.
6. Fly a kite
7. Make 10 music mixes to give as gifts to family and friends
8. Send 20 postcards
9. Build myself the ultimate swimsuit
10. Bake a pie from scratch (including the crust)
11. See a kangaroo in the wild
12. Use blurb (or something similar) to make a book
13. Climb one of the peaks in the Glasshouse Mountain range
14. Take a basic photography lesson
15. Go on a trip with a friend
16. Pick and eat some sort of food from the wild
17. Celebrate my first wedding anniversary in style
18. Spend an afternoon walking around taking photos by myself
19. Produce a zine for the first time in a decade
20. Develop the capacity to jog a long block without getting even slightly winded
21. Take photos with a large bunch of balloons
22. Double my personal dinner menu
23. Write a short fictional story
24. Tour a brewery
25. Ride in a hot-air balloon
26. Sell something on Etsy
27. Spend a day riding waterslides
28. Visit an observatory
29. Master the folding of origami cranes
30. Have a picnic
31. Make a short film using our flip video camera
This list will ensure that I do more than get bogged down in the routine of errands, work and all those other mundane life details. Too many years have slipped away going to work or making sandwiches. I mean, I’ve eaten some DAMN GOOD sandwiches in my time, but you know how it goes. It’s easy to get caught up and not take time to do fun stuff.
Especially when you’re a boring creature of habit and lover-of-routine like me.
If it does not succeed in ensuring that I am capable of having fun, well then if nothing else it will stand as a testament to my utter lameness and make me feel guilty for eternity or at least a couple weeks.
Boom! That’s it! What’s on your list?
