Before I die

Here is a list of 75 things that I want to do before I die. I started this list over six years ago while I was in college. From time to time I return to it. It’s been a frame of reference in a life that has taken so many unexpected twists and turns. I truly believe that life is a collection of experiences. We weave tapestries and paint stories with the people we meet, the places we travel and the simple still moments of life. I eagerly anticipate devouring life in all of its fullness. I want the ins and the outs, the ups and the downs, the dark and the light. I want it all. I am fully fleshed and breathing. Open and clothed with possibility.

1. Publish a book of poems
2. Write an autobiography
3. Adopt a child with physical disabilities
4. Learn sign language
5. Study theology
6. Meet Oprah
7. Produce a documentary 
8. Give a speech at my high school
9. Make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
10. Learn how to play the piano
11. Travel to Egypt
12. Sponsor a NJ Seeds child
13. Eat frog tongue
14. Kiss a stranger
15. Go nude on a beach
16. Learn how to play soccer
17. Play the drums
18. Reunite with my first love
19. Go to a nudist resort
20. Purchase a home in another country
21. Become a flight attendant
22. Slap someone really hard for pissing me off
23. See my writing in a magazine
24. Experience transcendence
25. Learn how to ride a motorcycle
26. Go dirt bike riding
27. Race a car
28. See Michael Jackson in concert :(
29. Trade on the stock market
30. Fix a car
31. Make a pizza
32. Get my palms read 
33. Go to Disney World and meet Mickey
34. Witness a direct act of GOD
35. Purchase a valuable piece of art
36. Live in a loft with a loft bed
37. Get a degree in counseling
38. Publish a movie critique
39. Eat a chocolate covered cricket
40. Take a mud bath
41. Become a massage therapist
42. Become fluent in Spanish
43. Study Arabic
44. Grow a healthy savings account
45. Be a movie extra
46. Become a judge
47. Be the maid of honor at my best friend’s wedding
48. Meet Janet Jackson
49. Converse with Toni Morrison
50. Experience the beautiful and unspeakable act of love making on my wedding night 
51. Have my pregnancy documented on TLC’s “A Baby Story”
52. Raise “water babies”—take my babies swimming in the ocean
53. Visit my old middle school
54. Reconcile with my dad
55. Read the first manuscripts of the Bible
56. Work on a political campaign
57. Go to the grand canyon
58. Go wine-tasting
59. Open my own club
60. Go on a spiritual retreat
61. Take a milk bath
62. Get a couples’ massage
63. Practice midwifery
64. Hang glide
65. Skinny dip
66. Learn how to surf
67. Live in CA for a while
68. Go to an awards show
69. Cage dance
70. Learn how to strip
71. Join a Burlesque group
72. Own a pair of diamond earrings 
73. Own some real pearls
74. Pay off my all my law school debt
75. Buy a home


Feel free to add your own…

Popular posts from this blog

Lesson Learned

I’ll sell my right breast (I’m a bit partial to the left one) before I try to hook up another friend. I dabbled in the stars and attempted to play match-maker this week. It was an absolute train-wreck. Before I give you the details, let me back up and tell you how this all came about. Tim (for the purposes of this blog) is a young, cute, gregarious lawyer with deep dimples and piercing blue eyes. Everyday he comes into my office to talk about family, girls, and all things unrelated to the practice of law. When I learned that he was single, I thought of a friend who I believed could provide some mental and physical stimulation. Knowing how hard it is to meet decent people these days, it seemed purely logical to me that these two should meet. Besides, I love love and the prospect of vicarious new love was too sweet to resist. We arranged to meet for drinks after work this Wednesday. My good friend, Jenna--sharp, witty and passionate--was stunning as usual. We sat down, ordered drinks and
Read more

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Last week I was forced to participate in a tedious orientation for my summer internship program. I am a bit of a recluse—the thought of socializing in a large plastic group had me reaching for a bottle of Xanex. The first day of training was as expected—students anxiously fielding generic questions like, “what law school are you from?” --completely uninterested in the answer. I chose not to participate in the social banter. I’ve been labeled as reserved and aloof. I am what I am and I feel no obligation to prove otherwise. I sat there pretending to find interest in the disheveled papers in front of me. Just before the first training began, a beautiful girl with a flawless complexion and sexy sway came to sit next to me. She turned to ask me a question, thus beginning our conversation. After only a few minutes, I came to learn that she was not as beautiful as she once appeared. I listened to her go on and on about her accomplishments, her possessions, and the people she knew—by the end
Read more

A mix of things...

Image
My significant other stumbled across my last blog regarding her request. Let’s just say that she, yes she, wasn’t so thrilled. The birthday gift ended before it even began. I have to admit that I’m a bit relieved. I know that the frequency of sexual intimacy is not a measure of our commitment. Pause. Now I can savor the decadence of a spontaneous needy fix. Hooray for small miracles. After some thought, I think way too much, I believe that her request was an attempt to keep me near. She thinks that she is losing me. With great sadness, I ended my internship last Friday. I’ve had an amazing summer. I will miss the incredibly talented lawyers in the public interest field. They are rebel rousers, social movers and change makers—fighters of unpopular causes. Charles Houston was right; lawyers are either social parasites or social engineers. I am no parasite. I will miss my clients, women at point zero, struggling to regain control of their lives. I have faith in their ability to change an
Read more