The idea for the list came to me one sunny summer afternoon when I was sitting beneath a tall oak on a green hillside overlooking the sea. I'm not sure what specific thought triggered the idea for the list. Perhaps it was my in the moment enjoyment of a perfect summer afternoon and wondering why I hadn't spent more afternoons doing just this or maybe it was watching the sailboats on the water and the return of a childhood desire to learn to sail or it might have been that I had started looking into graduate schools to attend after my expected completion of my BA in just about 18 months and the realization that if I could accomplish that goal that I might be able to accomplish others.
I reached for my phone and texted a friend, "I want to learn to sail. I want to learn to sail and I want to buy a small boat and spend my summers exploring islands off the New England coast."
"Of course I may have to wait until I finish graduate school to buy the boat but I could learn to sail next summer..."
And so the list was born. I picked the age of 50 because it's a nice round number and because it is the first age milestone that kind of freaks me out a little. Thoughts of mortality have always bobbed around on the surface of my thoughts but 50 brings it home.
What is on the list so far?
Before 50 List (in no particular order)
- Learn to sail
- Earn my BA
- Attend graduate school to earn my MFA
- Buy a sailboat (a small one)
- Live for a year (at least) in a small independent space, like a yurt
- Re-establish a committed creative practice
- Hike the "Hundred Mile Wilderness" (with friends)
That is the list as it stands right now. It doesn't seem like too much considering I've eight and half years to accomplish all of them. I expect to add a few things to the list over the next year and it is possible too that certain things could come off the list, but in any case there it is.
I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress.
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