Thursday, February 9, 2012

366 Days of 20



At roughly 5:00am tomorrow, I will begin the last year of my 20's. For some of my friends, who have or are about to reach this age, it's been a source of major stress and sort of a big deal. A fact which has made me feel like maybe I'm missing something, since it seems like any other birthday to me. Am I sad to be leaving my 20's at the end of this year? At present? Nope. I made the jump from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood without much of a backwards glance - so why make a big deal out of this change? Time marches forward whether we're ready for it or not; whether you kick and scream or not you're still going to get older.

And while I can say that I'm neither having an end of early adulthood crisis nor a lot of sighing or reminiscing, I do feel as though this one *should* be a bit special. Perhaps it's a mingling of knowing there's a sort of age threshold approaching and the fact that I decided 2012 is going to be a big deal for me. Maybe not such a big deal in the eyes of anyone else, but as one of my mantras for this year is "Who gives a fuck what others think?" I'm not going to sweat it.

In order to get my thoughts, plans and goals together I've taken a page out of the Big Book of Late 20's activities and made myself a mini bucket list; a 30 before 30 list. 30 things I'd like to do or at least keep in mind over the next 366 days. Did I make this list to be dramatic and awe inspiring? Nope. I've made it so I can have some accountability, it's high time I do some of these random or silly things. So, without further adieu, I present to you my 30 before 30 list:

Danni's 30 by 30 List
1. See a whale shark.
2. Fly a kite.
3. Be a healthy weight.
4. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years.
5. Get my passport.
6. Travel outside of the U.S.
7. Ride a horse.
8. Volunteer at an animal shelter.
9. Go to a drum circle.
10. Build a sheet fort.
11. Make a decision with a coin toss.
12. Have a Harry Potter movie-thon.
13. Ride in a hot air balloon. (For the record? I'm terrified of heights.)
14. Complete a journal.
15. Lay out and watch cloud shapes.
16. Learn (or at least make a solid effort to learn) Spanish.
17. Go to a music festival.
18. Eat cake without using my hands.
19. Give belly dancing a shot.
20. Participate in the Color Run when it comes to Charlotte, NC.
21. Adopt a puppy.
22. Use a fake name at Starbucks.
23. Have a Red Dress photo shoot.
24. Put my toes in the ocean again.
25. Watch a meteor shower.
26. Stop caring and accept myself.
27. Be brave and bold hearted.
28. Paint my own version of Van Gogh's Starry night.
29. Sleep outside.
30. Be Happy.


There are several other things I'd like to accomplish this year that I haven't put on the list, such as letting go of some things, reconnecting, getting deeper into my path, tuning more into nature, making more time for my muse and finding my tribe. I decided to keep my list relatively light and sort of silly, filled with simple things I've never done (like flying a kit or riding a horse) and things I've done that make me childishly happy (like sleeping outside and watching meteor showers.) I figure, if I'm going to make this year special, it had better be good fun to boot!

10 comments:

  1. Every serious, and extremely hot 30-year-old-to-be must "Have a Harry Potter movie-thon." Oh, and just so you know, this must become a tradition after you go over the hump and ;-)

    Enjoy your upcoming birthday!

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  2. I love this list, and I have to say I would like to do some of these things too! Have a blast doing it all! I say adopt a puppy should be on top of your list! And I give fake names all the time when you are asked at restaurants, picking up food, etc. It is fun!! And have a great 29th!

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  3. I love your list. It is filled with frivolous, serious, good for you kinda things. I vote for the last coming first. Be Happy...all the time. And starting at roughly 5am......happy birthday dear one. Oma Linda

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  4. Thank you, ladies! *big mushy internet hugs*

    We have a Lord of the Rings marathon every year in late summer so Harry and friends can balance it out around Yule each year. :)

    I'm so glad I'm not the only one that thinks using fake names will be a hoot! :D

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  5. That is an absolutely fantastic list. I hope your kite flying goes better than mine, it is still on my list. Maybe this year. Sigh. I love the idea of giving the barrista a fake name, lol. Awesome.

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  6. This looks like a great list, if you manage to do even half the things on there your going to have a fab year!!

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  7. First of all I fucking love the cartoon. I'm saving that for all of my Jersey Girl asshole friends and family.

    Second of all, Hippy Happy Birthday my friend. May this day be exactly what you need and here's to your list. :::raising mug of coffee::: there are lots of things on there you can knock out this year, so get on that shit.

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  8. Love your list! A lot of fun things on there! I like "eat cake without my hands" the best.

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  9. Happy a Happy Birthday! That list sounds like so much fun.

    Harry Potter-a-thon is awesome! We regularly have movie marathons with HP, The Lord of The Rings extended trilogy, and Firefly (with the Serenity movie included). You can go wrong with that much awesome!

    Have a great day! :D

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  10. Not sure why, but your list made me all teary... Oh, can I come over & build a sheet fort with you??? I haven't done that in AGES. =D

    I think your list sounds wonderful! You're going to have an amazing & wonderful year indeed! ^-^

    XOXO

    PS... Sorry for inundating you with comments... I promise to read blogs more often, so I don't drown the poor authors with my mass commenting once I read the last month's blog posts in one sitting... XD

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