[lorend]

What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?

At the end of April, we posted an announcement on MacInsiders asking, 'What Do You Want to do Before You Die?' as a preview to a keynote speech being given by the Buried Life.

Recap: The Buried Life is a group of four guys from Victoria BC, who are traveling around the globe trying to complete their list of things they want to do before they die, and along the way help others complete the items on their list. While we were at CLAY TBL helped one of the CLAY staff complete one of the things on his list.

For those of us who attended, after CLAY we started writing our lists and sharing them with our delegates and others on the staff team. From what I have seen a lot of us have similar goals, and are interesting in doing them with each other, as well as helping each other complete them. I have also noticed that people I know who did not attend CLAY are starting to finish their own lists as well and share them with peers.

I interviewed TBL recently about why students and recent grads should complete their own lists, and turned it into an article which you can check out here. My list is part of that article, and I want you all to check it out. (Call me an exhibitionist or an extrovert, if you will).

What I want MacInsiders members to do is to write their own list and share them with all other users. I think this will not only help us set goals for our future, but also serve as a form of networking; where if one person has connections to a particular thing they can help someone cross something off their list.

Here is my list (in no particular order):

1. Figure out what is wrong with my wrist and get it fixed!
2. Go on Safari in Africa
3. Give a one-time donation of at least $1000 to the Hospital for Sick Children
4. Have a conversation with Taiaiake Alfred without being terrified
5. Learn to use a sewing machine and make myself a dress
6. Go see all of the major Mayan ruins starting with Chichen Itza
7. Buy a jackalope
8. Go to the Galapagos Islands and see Lonesome George
9. Complete a half marathon
10. Get married
11. Go to a shelter and bring home a dog (or two or three or 126284) to rescue and love
12. Get my MA and PhD
13. Swim with dolphins
14. Have an article published in a peer-reviewed journal
15. While travelling in New Zealand see an All-Blacks game
16. Figure out how to make pancakes without burning them
17. Go paintballing
18. Teach someone how to read
19. Spend nine weeks in Europe
20. Be the photographer for a wedding
21. Meet Orson Scott Card
22. Be able to design a website using Dreamweaver
23. Go dog sledding
24. Become fluent in Spanish
25. Be paid for a photo I have taken
26. Learn how to carve while snowboarding
27. Take engagement photos
28. Spend a few nights in a B&B in Gettysburg
29. Give an inspirational speech
30. Own a hybrid car
31. Knit someone a sweater
32. Be able to put down at least a $30 000 down payment on a house
33. Go to Mt. Rushmore with a huge sign that says ‘VANDALISM’ and stick it in the ground
34. Cook a turkey dinner
35. Spend one Dia de los Muertos in Mexico City
36. Learn how to drive standard
37. Meet an okapi
38. Get my right knee replaced
39. Go to a powwow
40. Read all of the Holy Books (the Old and New Testament, Quaran etc)
41. Teach a dog to do flyball
42. Visit every province and territory in Canada
43. Learn how to use PhotoShop
44. Get tattoo #2
45. See the Northern Lights
46. Have a pond in my backyard
47. Donate blood
48. Run a marathon
49. Visit Salem, Massachusetts
50. Learn how to play guitar
51. Own a donkey
52. Hang out with George Stromboulopolous for a day
53. Be able to read in French (and not just a cereal box!)
54. Get paid for something I wrote
55. Have kids
56. Spend at least a week in Chiapas with the Zapatista
57. Go to a shelter and rescue some bunnies and take them home to love
58. Learn to surf
59. Love my job
60. Take photography courses at a college
61. Use solar panels on my house for electricity and heating water
62. Know the full names of all of my great-grandparents and where they were born and died in addition to the same for my great-great grandparents and great-great-great grandparents
63. Go zip lining
64. Be an active member of a conservation group
65. See the southern lights
66. Give a lecture to at least 47 people
67. Cook a vegan meal with foods found within 100 miles from where I live
68. Get a pedicure
69. Honeymoon in Hawaii
70. Play on a soccer team again
71. Make sure my family knows I want to be an organ and tissue donor
72. See wild Australian penguins
73. Feed a zebra
74. Grow my hair long enough to be cut and donated
75. Stay in three haunted houses/hotels
76. Participate in a protest
77. See an NHL game
78. Have dinner at the Olive Garden
79. Stay up to stargaze, take star trails and see the sun rise
80. Go snowblading
81. Plant a garden that encourages visits from animals
82. Get my CPR certification and make sure it is always renewed
83. Dig for fossils
84. Jump in an enormous puddle and splash someone
85. Get a foam cheese hat at Lambeau field and wear it to a Packer’s game
86. Own a pair of diamond earrings
87. Take yoga classes
88. Save the life of a wild animal
89. Go bobsledding
90. Beat the crap out of a piñata for my 30th birthday…and again on my 50th
91. Have a blender
92. Travel the Grand Canyon via donkey
93. Windsurf at The Gorge…even if I can only do it for five minutes
94. Go on an Alaskan cruise
95. Lose 30 pounds. And hope I don’t have to do it more than once!
96. See a production on Broadway
97. Spend time reading in a hammock every summer after purchasing one
98. Pat a penguin
99. Own a house with a secret room/passage
100. Have my fortune told in New Orleans

[ferreinm]

If any of you are ever interested in taking any interesting electives, I highly recommend Death and Dying. I completed the western experience and now I'm focusing on the eastern course. It really is an eye-opening course. I find that often people create these lists and assume that they have all the time in the world to complete them. "Oh, I'll do them tomorrow" you might say but for all you know today is your last day. Take advantage of the time you have because it's not guaranteed. My cousin died the day after his last exam in college. He pretty much graduated without the ceremony. He wasn't sick or anything. He just dropped dead randomly at the age of 20. So honestly, these guys have a great message. Create your list and start crossing them off today. =)

[jonphillip]

This things-to-do-before-i-die idea is pretty cool.

I really like these ones you mentioned:

Give a one-time donation of at least $1000 to the Hospital for Sick Children
Go paintballing
Spend nine weeks in Europe
Meet Orson Scott Card
Go to Mt. Rushmore with a huge sign that says ‘VANDALISM’ and stick it in the ground
See the Northern Lights
Learn how to play guitar
Hang out with George Stromboulopolous for a day
Love my job
Stay in three haunted houses/hotels
Have dinner at the Olive Garden
Stay up to stargaze, take star trails and see the sun rise
Jump in an enormous puddle and splash someone
Go bobsledding
Beat the crap out of a piñata for my 30th birthday…and again on my 50th
Go on an Alaskan cruise
Own a house with a secret room/passage



I have to admit though, there were a few things on that list that didn't really make any sense to me.

9. Complete a half marathon

-why half?

22. Be able to design a website using Dreamweaver

-is that really so important?

43. Learn how to use PhotoShop

-again...not sure what the significance of PhotoShop is in the grand scheme of things

81. Plant a garden that encourages visits from animals

-Nice idea, but a garden that attracts animals will probably end up getting eaten by said animals

48. Run a marathon

-well that explains #9, lol!

51. Own a donkey

-???

..and finally:

91. Have a blender

-...???? you've lost me on this one..

[temara.brown]

It's really hard to make one of these lists. Some of these things are intentionally frivolous.. they're more of things to do soontime but still things to do. And heck, blenders are amazing! Today I made strawberry lemonade and am quite happy. I'd be heartbroken if I lived life without a blendar. haha

[lorend]

9. Complete a half marathon

-why half?
Because 20k is a long distance...I used to run cross-country in high school and found 5K difficult.

22. Be able to design a website using Dreamweaver

-is that really so important?
It's a useful business skill, so I'd say yes. I'd like to work up to designing my own website to use for business purposes, so having the skill would definitely cut down on costs. Furthermore, it's something that can set you apart in the journalism field.

43. Learn how to use PhotoShop

-again...not sure what the significance of PhotoShop is in the grand scheme of things
I take a lot of pictures, and I'd like to be able to edit some of them so they look better. Knowing only LightRoom just doesn't cut it. Could also help facilitate #25

81. Plant a garden that encourages visits from animals

-Nice idea, but a garden that attracts animals will probably end up getting eaten by said animals
But that's my point. Feeding wildlife without interfering is the best way.

48. Run a marathon

-well that explains #9, lol!
It's double the length. Small steps make attaining goals easier.

51. Own a donkey

-???
I've always loved donkeys.

..and finally:

91. Have a blender

-...???? you've lost me on this one..
My mom refuses to get a blender. She doesn't see the purpose of having one. I, on the other hand rather like smoothies and other blended beverages. I don't think it's a good idea for me to get one until I figure out where I'm going to be in the next two years.

[ferreinm]

It doesn't matter what is on the list as long as it's your own. Why do people want to swim in a huge pool of spaghetti? That's kind of weird. However, it gives their lives meaning. What gives one person's life meaning might have no significance in another person's life. I actually prefer the things on my list that seem insignificant to others, it makes it more "me" It's sad that we all want the same things in life. It kind of makes me wonder if I have my own identity or if I'm just a conformist

[EmilySusie]

I agree that the most random and insignificant goals can really be the most meaningful. I would rather have "small" goals that I can actually accomplish than 100 goals that I wouldn't have the time or resources to do.

This reminds me of the orientation I went to last summer at Mac. We were given paper and markers, and told to draw a "life map" of academic/life goals. Very simple activity but it really helped to gain perspective, and something I still continue to do.

I recently finished one of my goals- learn how to spin yarn. Something a lot of people probably wouldn't understand, but was an interesting experience for me. My favorite of your goals was no. 31- knit someone a sweater

[jonphillip]

Yeah, these lists are always going to appear random and weird to people who don't share your goals or interests...



Lorend,

Thanks for explaining your reasoning. Although, to be fair, I was really just being an argumentative troll, so don't worry about it! :p


I think the main reason I was confused about your "Have a Blender" goal was because it seems like a relatively simple matter of purchasing one - simple enough, that it seemed out of place on a grand list of things to do before one dies. I have never heard of a blender being so epic... but I guess making your own smoothies and milkshakes is pretty awesome. I can't believe your mom wouldn't get you a simple blender! How strange.
Are there any other kitchen appliances she opposes?

[lorend]

Interestingly enough, my mom offered to buy me a blender last week, but I turned it down because where I will be in September is kinda shaky at the moment.

My mom just seems to think a blender serves no purpose. I dunno? Ummm...she technically is a little bit against toasters I guess. We have never had a toaster, only a toaster oven. But that's because a toaster oven has multiple functions while a toaster can only toast. I think?