I'm near the end of a path-finder e-course offered by Karen Walrond, who is all sorts of fabulous. (Really, go to her website and try not to fall in love with her spirit--it's not possible.) She's had us generate a love list, light words, a vision board, a word of the year, and--most recently--a Life Menu of Awesome. There are two things I like about that last label: 1) it's not a "list" that must be done or fodder for ego/nasty-voice punishment, and 2) it has the word "awesome" in it, which just makes me smile. So this is a menu of soul-filling ideas from which I can pick and choose, complete or not complete, add and delete. And it's awesome to boot (big grin)!
Karen suggested we make our Life Menu public, if for no other reason than to generate energy and connections around the ideas. So here goes...
Joy's Life Menu (of Awesome!), in no particular order
- Dance on all seven continents
- Add a new perennial to my garden each year
- Treat each of my nieces and nephews to a special trip at college graduation
- Attend 10 NCAA women's volleyball Final Fours with my dad
- Write a book
- Learn a new star constellation every year and view it regularly
- Take an improvisation class
- Spend time in 25 national parks
- Create and carry out Story-Corps type interviews with 20 people (my dad first!)
- Attend 50 meditation retreats
[Count so far: 3]
- Hug 1,000 different people (this will start from scratch upon the date of my choosing)
[Start-from-scratch date: October 9, 2011; Different Hugs as of January 10, 2012: 80]
- Create and hang an exhibition of my photography
- Go sky-diving with Mark
- Spend a day in the winter making frosted sugar cookies with Mark (and whoever else wants to join us)
- Go on a hot-air balloon ride with my nieces and nephews
- Go backpacking in Idaho with Andrew & Jen
- Visit Todd, Katherine, and kiddos in San Francisco
Make from-scratch cinnamon rolls with Mark
[ On December 31, 2011 we made "Cinnamon Rolls with Irish Cream Glaze" from
The Bread Bible; they were YUMMY!]
- Take a photo of myself every day for a year
- Take a destination trip with Krista, Kristin, and Sarah for our 50th birthdays
- Learn one joke really well
- Have a big party to celebrate when Mark & I turn 50 AND we've been married 20 years (happens near the same time)
- Host a pumpkin-carving party
- Participate in a drum circle
- Vacation in New Zealand with Mark
- Have Mark read aloud to me 50 short stories
- Anonymously post 100 signs/sayings/fliers of kindness in obscure--but viewed--places
- Dance at 50 ceilidhs (or barn dances)
[ Count so far: 7]
- Travel to Haiti with Oliver & Rebecca, see their project in action, roll up my sleeves, and help
- Identify and organize a creative circle
- Write notes of kindness to friends and then hide them in their houses
Give at least $1000 to grass-roots charities every December
[Well, this isn't yet a completed item, but we did it in 2011 and it's now a tradition
(stay tuned)]
- Hold a koala bear
- Cook with Heidi Swanson
- Attend another Canadian step-dancing camp
- Swim with dolphins
- Have a conversation with Barack & Michelle Obama
- Perform with Mark in front of an audience (me: step dancing; Mark: fiddling)
See Dar Williams in concert- Dance or meditate in a really large group (say 1000s)
- Find a comfy group of women with whom I can have fun playing indoor volleyball doubles
- Volunteer to hold babies at the hospital
- Take an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction class
- Have my toes painted 12 different colors in a year
[ December; Days of Wine & Roses (deep purple, in honor of my friend, Kathy)
January: Break of Dawn (sparkly red/pink)
February: Shooting Star (sparkly purple)
March: Stiletto (bright red)
April: Stay tuned]
- Take a 24-hour technology break once a week for a year
- Bring Steph to Lawrence as faculty, if only for a short-term visit
- Take an away-from-home vacation alone and luxuriate in my own company
- Spend a week at an Ayurvedic retreat center
- Have 100 meals, happy hours, or visits with friends in a single year
- Take a purposeful trip to the Southwest with a trusted spiritual guide
- Hike part of the Appalachian Trail
- Learn how to say "thank you" in 20 different languages
- View the Northern Lights in person
2 comments:
Love your list Joy, and your blog. Lots of wisdom here. I haven't heard of Story Corps before but it sounds like something I need to learn more about. Thank you!
Joy, *you* are awesome. I love your life menu! And it's just that... a menu. It's full of many choices, and they are choices based on what you want! The name is perfect. :)
Have you heard of operation beautiful? (operationbeautiful.com) One of your menu items reminded me of it. I found out about it a few years ago, and I love the concept. I introduce it to my GOTR girls when we do a lesson on self-esteem/body image. They love creating annonymous notes and putting them in public places!
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