I began my living list on April 30th, 2018 and I left it as a draft. I started it shortly after having emergency gallbladder removal surgery. You know…the surgery where I almost died. And I have periodically added to this list since.
I consciously chose not to post it because I knew there would be a better time to share it.
So why share this now?
Because I am taking little steps, steering my ship to the direction I want to go. Where I need to go. And by sharing this, it is no longer just a secret fantasy. By sharing this, my living list grows substance. And reality.
My living list makes the leap from impossible fantasies to possible dreams.
I am still on my journey to figuring out how to love myself.
Making a list of things I want to not only experience, but also thoroughly enjoy, gives me hope. A hope to work towards. A hope that I do have a future. And I can reach out and touch it, if only I put my mind to it.
If only I find the courage to dig deep.
So why a living list?
People write bucket lists for items they want to accomplish before they die. But I want a living list. A list of items that I want to experience while I am alive, without the end being death.
So what is on my living list? I have put a wide variety of items on here. Alot to do with family. But many more that will cause me to reflect on who I am, my inner self.
I will need to overcome fears for a few of these. I will need to be persistent for others. I will need to figure out how to be self reliant to conquer some.
But each item on this list, will be an adventure in and of itself.
- There is a road that goes from Newport, OR to Maine, in like 51 hours, crossing 12 states AND Canada – I want to experience this with the kids
- I want to see, and photograph, the Northern Lights
- I want to see the Sun set from the top of Mt Hood on New Years Eve, and the Sunrise on New Years Day.
- I want to go on a Ghost Adventure. I want to ask the spirits questions. I want to experience the unknown, see the un-seeable.
- I want to enter a national photography exhibit – not for the goal to win any awards, but to experience the feeling that my work is good enough.
- Lose 150lbs
- Sky dive
- Jump off a bridge (bungee jumping of course)
- Hike part of PCT
- Visit all waterfalls in the PNW
- Hike part, or all, of the Pacific Coast Trail the summer I turn 40
- Live in Alaska for 1 year, as close to living off the grid as possible. Rent out our houses and we all go up after the kids get older.
- I want to learn how to surf, on the Oregon Coast
- I want to stay, overnight, at a haunted location
- RV demolition derby
- Intertubing in Hawaii
- Learn how to mush a team of dogs
- Be an Iditarod groupie for a season, and sleep under the Aurora Borealis
- Watch my kids flourish and thrive and evolve in to amazing adults
I have at least 60 more years to accomplish alot of these items.
I have alot of time figuring out how to accomplish some of these things.
But by the end of this year, I will have accomplished one of these.
And I cannot wait to unveil which one it will be later this week.
Finding Anchors in the Storm 
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