Lists are the elixir of life

I'm a closet list maker. To-do Lists. To-don'ts. Grocery lists. Packing lists. Activity lists.

I always say I hate planning ahead, but that's a bold-face lie too. If you were smart enough to evade my company during the wedding planning months, I commend you... because I was at the ABSOLUTE brink of going postal from keeping a list for all my lists.

I make lists when I am stressed out, tired, lonely, bored, busy, frantic, happy, anxious. My lists consist of, but definitely not confined to: things to remember, personal projects to complete, names of people I should call, doctor's appointments, places I want to visit, concepts and principles to incorporate into my daily life, quotes that I think are memorable, things about myself I want to change, things about my life that are good, groceries to pick up the next time I'm out, stuff to get at Walmart.... Blah Blah Blah. Sometimes I make lists of things I have already completed just so I can draw a thick line through them and feel very accomplished. It's like self-therapy...

Today.. I'm feeling a little bummed. So I decided to re-vamp my old list.... THE List. The one that is supposed to take me through life with frantic abandon. Some people say that these lists are useless because they keep you from appreciating what you've done by creating a false sense of reality... but I completely disagree. I'm not even sure how long I have had this list or what got it started.. but I guess it's what they call.. a living document. Some of the things, I've already done. Others, I probably would think twice about doing.. and yet, it seems like I have so much more to add -- and hopefully, just as much (and more) to accomplish.

So without further a due, here is MY LIST.


1. Write a novel, and have it published.

2. Find a job I love.

3. Learn to surf.

4. Visit Rome. a

5. Take a road trip across the United States. a

6. Skydive.

7. Write a song.

8. Explore the New York Public Library. a

9. Swim with a dolphin.

10. Look into a Hawaiian volcano.

11. March in a protest rally. a

12. Go camping on a beach.

13. Drive on Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible with the top down.

14. Learn how to play the guitar.

15. Walk the Great Wall of China.

16. Scuba Dive.

17. Go to the United Nations. a

18. Get a tattoo or a piercing.

19. Let go of an old grudge. a

20. Ride the tallest roller coaster in the world. a

21. Volunteer. a

22. Take a gondola ride in Venice with the love of my life.

23. Eat an authentic Thai meal in Thailand.

24. Leave my mark by carving my name to a tree bark, and revisiting it.

25. Go to Disney World.

26. Participate in a tradition outside my culture. a

27. Stay at a Five Star Hotel, guilt-free.

28. Learn how salsa, in heels.

29. Take a cruise.

30. Spend New Year’s Eve in some exotic location.

31. Attend the Carnivale in Venice, Italy. a

32. Become a member of the Mile High Club.

33. Run a marathon.

34. Learn a third language, and put it to use.

35. Work with a non-profit organization.

36. Change my own tire. a

37. Go to the top of the Empire State Building. a

38. Start a collection and stick with it.

39. See a tornado or hurricane and live to tell my grandkids.

40. Be in a mosh pit. a

41. Visit the Vietnam Wall in Washington DC.

42. Try a pilates class.

43. Go white water rafting.

44. Vote for something I feel strongly about.

45. Talk with a Buddhist monk.

46. Raise a family.

47. Be someone’s mentor.

48. Write a journal of stories from my childhood and pass it on to my children.

49. Release my own recording album.

50. Tour a vineyard and sample a good bottle of wine. a

51. Photograph the sphinx and the pyramids in Egypt.

52. Do something crazy in Las Vegas. a

53. Research my family tree.

54. Contemplate on the one person I idolize and let them know how much I admire them.

55. Spend a birthday in Paris.

56. Fall asleep to the sound of the waves of the ocean.

57. Start my own company.

58. Attend a fashion show in Milan.

59. Finish my degree.

60. Visit all seven continents.

61. Get interviewed and published by a newspaper or magazine. a

62. Fall in love. a

63. Get married on the beach. a

64. Get a piece of my art work into an exhibit.

65. Re-kindle an old friendship.

66. Attend the mardi gras in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

67. Buy a piece of jewelry that I can pass on to my daughter.

68. Organize a big event. a

69. Watch the changing of the guard in Buckingham Palace.

70. Have my portrait painted.

71. Reflect on my greatest weakness, and realize how it is my greatest strength.

72. Spend a whole day reading a great novel on the beach sipping cocktail.

73. Drive the autobahn.

74. Take a photograph someone can hang proudly on their wall.

75. Get a poem published. a

76. Attend at least one major sporting event: the Super Bowl, the Olympics, or World Series.

77. Ride a horse on the beach. a

78. Shower in a waterfall.

79. Jump from the top of a waterfall.

80. Make love in the rain.

81. Memorize a poem and pass it on.

82. Visit all 50 states.

83. Send my mom to a well-deserved vacation somewhere.

84. Dance in a foreign night club. a

85. Ride in a hot air balloon.

86. Watch the running of the bulls in person in Spain.

87. Live somewhere other than California. a

88. Go back to the Philippines for a class reunion.

89. Visit the Borough market in London.

90. Own my dream house, preferably close to the water.

91. Capture someone else’s wedding or special occasion on film.

92. Plant a garden.

93. Conquer my fear of riding a motorcycle (as a passenger, not drive one).

94. Watch the sunset on a beach. a

95. Fly somewhere First Class.

96. Take a cooking class.

97. Take my sister somewhere nice when she graduates college.

98. Take my brother to a professional football game.

99. Look into my child’s eyes, see myself, and smile. a

100. Pay off all my debts.