I am a big believer in experiences. I think our lives are richer, fuller, just plain better, the more experiences we gather. I was asked once what I collected and I said, truthfully, experiences. I do love pretty things, but I far prefer experiences. I would rather make a memory than end up with something else to dust or wash. With the (very large) exception of books, I would always rather spend my money on doing something than on buying something. But, here lately, I've been feeling like all I do is work and parent.
Work and parent. Work and parent, and nothing else but laundry. I love my life, my job, my daughter, but all this working and parenting has left me feeling lopsided. As though I don't have a life of my own. Do you know what I mean?
You can imagine how encouraged I was when I actually got going on the meme below. (found here) Working and parenting, yes. Laundry, yes. Still. I have managed to have more than a few adventures along the way. I kept thinking of stories I wanted to tell you...
... like the time I rode a barge down the Nile. Or the time a camel driver threatened to leave me in the desert. Or about the view from Lady Liberty's hat. Or about how the spray from Niagara Falls coats all the trees in ice and creates a fairy land. Or about the time I heard the stars sing. Or about a magical island where I once lived, full of mountain-side goat trails, child-sized talking poodles, wild blackberries, and diagonal rain. Or about the time I learned to fly...
Oh, the stories.
I HAVE….
(done the bolded things)
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band - does high school backyard backup singer count?
4. Visited Hawaii - I was only three, so I'm not counting it.
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity - Not often enough, I'm afraid.
7. Been to Disneyland/world - both, actually.
8. Climbed a mountain - Stone Mountain in Georgia. It's little, but I'm counting it.
9. Held a praying mantis - Sloane's Daddy caught an absolutely enormous one for her just a few weeks ago. She named it Amen.
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped - Nope, but I am one heck of a sky diver.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea - I used to live on Tecera island in the Azores. So, I've seen lightening at sea, but I was soon snug in my bed listening to the foghorns and dreaming of pirates.
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train - No, but I have ridden a train from Port Said to Cairo.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked - Sort of. I accepted a ride from a stranger because it was pouring rain. My mother almost killed me over it.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - At my school, we call them mental health days.
24. Built a snow fort - It was a lousy fort, but tons of fun.
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - Only in my dreams.
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - Funny. My answer is no, but I take my students to the rock gym nearly every school year.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt - Talk about a big disappointment!
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa - Egypt
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted - No, but I have had it drawn more than once.
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - Scuba diving is on my list of things to do by the time I turn 40.
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - I have been on the front row of a roller coaster in a Busch Gardens commercial.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - Number one seller for our troop, right here.
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job - I prefer the term "let go."
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - Literally speeding, or just going fast?
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80.Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem - only in utero
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode a elephant - Nope, but I have ridden a camel right up to the Giza pyramids.
Which of these have you done? Which one was your favorite experience? To participate, just copy and paste the list into your own blog. Be sure to bold the things you have experienced, and please leave me a comment so I can read your list.
I don't know who took the photo above. I Googled "just do it" and that picture came up about 50 times.
15 comments:
this was an EXCELLENT little shot of inspiration. it totally got me thinking...thank you for that.
just spent some lovely time scrolling away to my ehart's content {no one's awake yet over here!}...sloane is stunning. she looks like a fairy. and i love your election post. and listening to louis armstrong while devouring all of the above? perfect. good morning...
I love this I will put one on my journal.
Thanks for the inspirations
So interesting to learn more about your stories. And I think you should tell a few of the ones you've mentioned - fascinating stuff! I notice on your goodreads shelf you're reading Patti Digh's book. Me too. I just never find time to update my goodreads shelf.
Hi! Thanks so much for the comments and especially the kind thoughts about my mom's passing. It's been hard.
Your post is great (and thanks for the link)! You do have lots of stories to tell! I did that post really quick and probably should have taken more time to explain and describe as well. I send these out in e-mails too so maybe I will do it then.
Hope all is going well with your family and school. Have a wonderful weekend!
Mmm.. this is beautiful. First of all, I really know I want to travel with you. ; )
I also want to know what materials you used to teach yourself a foreign language. ; )
This is so inspiring. I have ben going through the work and parenting thing too. It gets so hard. I crave to be me, even wonder where I have gone at times.
You have inspired me, to make sure I find myself, every so often.. : )
Good list here. It's a great exercise to do when one doesn't feel like they have accomplished anything...and yet we all have, haven't we? I think riding a barge down the Nile or a camel into the desert is pretty darn cool, Relyn. :)
Hello Relyn,
Parenting is the greatest adventure of all. Perhaps you just need some little more "me" time.
Wish you a great weekend. And thanks for leaving those lovely comments on my book-review blog.
Can you believe I have never owned a cell phone? I think I am the last one on the surface of the earth not to have one...but I am resisting. One day, I know I'm going to have to cave.
You have done so many adventurous things! What an inspiration you are for living a full and creative life.
Isn't kissing in the rain wonderful??
xoxoxox
Great post! I love the idea of collecting experiences and enjoyed reading about some of yours. Thanks! -Julia :-)
What amazing experiences you have had!
Relish the time being a parent. The time whirlwinds by and before you know it they are grown and gone and it leaves you wanting to hit the rewind button.
which bone did you break....I have my nose and my toe to put in that broken bone category....darn it !!
Wow.. .what a truly lovely site!
I do like your list. I just might try one myself. :)
~*
What a rich and full life you have had already.
Great idea to do this as the day to day can sometimes make us forget. I will definitely post this and tic a box or two.
What a wonderful list. You have been to Africa, kissed in the rain, slept under the stars. !!!! I just feel good saying those things out loud.
:) Debi
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