My Mighty Life List

Have I ever told  ya’ll that I have commitment issues?

Well, I do.

Actually, it’s more like “not-wanting-to-be-disappointed” issues.  Or “don’t-want-to-jinx-myself” issues.  These issues show themselves in the following ways:  fear of writing down goals, anxiety about sharing future dreams with anyone who does not exist in my head, and refusal to actively plan for anything more than 31 days away.

One of the reasons I started my “Year of Inspired Living” project was to move past these issues. It was a HUGE event for me to share the project with ya’ll and a HUGE action for me to post photos of the month’s current goals on my Pinterest board.

Now I’m taking an even bigger step… following the inspiration of Mighty Girl, Karen, and Susan, I’ve begun crafting my “Mighty Life List.”

I specifically love this idea better than the “bucket list” concept because it’s about creating goals of both simple joys AND items that stretch you outside your comfort zone.  Which means not feeling pressured to include a bunch of pie-in-the-sky dreams just because everyone else is doing it.

I also love Maggie’s reason behind sharing the list:  to give everyone who participates the chance to help one another achieve their goals.

So, you’ll find my mighty list below.  I’ll be adding to it until I reach 100, and then I’ll chart my progress here too.  If you have a list (or catch the fever to start one), I’d love to see it.  One of the items on my list is to help five other people achieve something on their list, so please feel free to share links to your lists in the comments below!

My Mighty Life List

1. Interview 100 inspiring people
2. Publish a book of short stories
3. Collaborate with my husband on a project
4. Create a multi-media art project
5. Learn to take good portraits (photography)
6. Financially support myself via my own business
7. Create a creativity + inspired living retreat
8. Travel:  Paris, England, Ireland, Montreal/Quebec, Vancouver, Austin, Las Vegas, The Keys, Grand Canyon, New Orleans, Charleston, San Francisco, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, Arizona, New Mexico, Baltimore, Richmond
9. Spend regular time with my best friend Jessica
10. Take a weekend trip with my mom
11. Attend a blogging/internet/social media conference like SXSW, BlogHer, or the World Domination Summit
12. Give/loan money through Kiva every month for at least one full year
13. Find a spiritual community/church home
14. Make a short film
15. Develop a yoga practice
16. Participate in a pop-up dinner
17. Build a wardrobe of clothes I absolutely love and feel fabulous in  (Completed fall/winter 2012)
18. Help 5 other people  achieve something on their life list
19. Meet 5 new people each month
20. Make and send “just thinking of you” care packages
21. Take a trip by train
22. Host a regular game night
23. Christmas in New York
24. Attend a masquerade ball
25. Have my own studio office in a shared artists’ loft
26. Teach workshops on creativity, inspired living, and marketing  (2012 began teaching regular marketing workshops on my business site, SleazeFreePromotions.com)
27. Remove money as a concern in my life
28. Learn to paint
29. Throw a themed party
30. Eat barbecue in Memphis
31. Learn to play a musical instrument
32. Make my bedroom into a beautiful haven
33. Make the rest of our home a beautiful, comfortable living space for the family
34. Learn belly dancing enough to break out a move or two!
35. Help coordinate a Ted-X
36. Launch a small press publishing house
37. Try indoor rock climbing
38. Learn to sew and refashion thrifted clothes
39. Learn to upholster furniture
40. Start my own Youtube channel (started Fall 2012)
41. Attend 8 creative retreats/workshops:  Squam, Camp Mighty, Penland School of Crafts, John C. Campbell Folk School,
42. Go on a National Geographic Photography or Video workshop expedition
43. Send yearly gratitude cards
44. Create something new every day for one year
45. Write (& publish) a new blog post on Being is a Verb every day for one month (#Flashmo project for NaNo, Nov 2012)
46. Pose for a nude drawing class or photo shoot
47. Add 100 writer’s spaces to The Writer’s Lair by this time next year (August 8, 2013)
48. Do at least one new thing every month
49. Start a family gratitude practice
50. Drink 1.5 liters of water daily
51. Challenge myself to 100 days of healthy homemade lunches yearly
52. Participate in National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo)
53. Visit museums: MOMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History (NYC), the Louvre, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Guggenheim, British Museum, Museo Dali, Museum of Science & Industry,
54. Go horseback riding
55. Buy a brand-new, latest technology laptop
56. Build a collection of fabulous vintage jewelry that I adore
57. Own a really nice digital camera (DSLR or ILC)
58. Fill my home with a collection of original art work (paintings, illustrations, photography)
59. Save 6 months of expenses
60. Audition and land a role in a play
61. Tell a story or read a poem in a story/poetry slam
62. Tackle one new cooking adventure a month:  make jam, bake edible bread, ice cream, sorbet, cheese, apple/fruit butter, lemon curd
63. Challenge the family to 100 days of healthy family meals
64. Go camping (preferably on the beach or in a yurt)
65. Learn to really swim
66. Go caving
67. Volunteer to teach art/photography/writing/creativity workshops to kids and/or the elderly
68. Build a digital collection of my favorite music
69. Participate in a big group scavenger hunt
70. Explore activities to do with hubby until we find something we can turn into a shared hobby
71. Develop a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and healthy eating.
72. Teach a course at the Entheos Academy
73. Perform a month of random acts of kindness.
74. Launch a minecraft gaming vlog with my youngest
75. Create my own personal vlogging channel on Youtube