An MFRW Post – And check out the other blogs on the hop!
I want to be badass. In theory, that’s simple enough – a movie montage does the trick for learning martial arts, surfing or whitewater rafting. A couple clues, details and notes in between chapters one and three and you’ve got a bonafide Alps hiker or hot pepper taster.
The truth is, my imagination is often bigger than my gut. I’d like to think that if I ever got dropped into a situation, I’d take a deep breath and agree to some really cool things, but there’s a lot I know I’ll never get the opportunity to do.
And a lot I plan to do anyway.
I don’t talk about my anxiety much. It’s not a super fun topic when it’s going on and it’s an even less fun topic to chat about when it’s not, but I really like the idea of beating it by doing the things that scare me the most. If I can jump out of a plane, then that nagging little voice in the back of my head might just give up the ghost and stop trying to convince me that my head cold is some rare and fatal disease. Ya know, fun things like that.
But that delightful topic as a segue into my bucket list, here are a few things that I can’t wait to do!
Camp Under the Northern Lights
I mean, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Have you seen them? I love the idea of really connecting with nature – a totally insane and wild form of nature – and camping under the greatest stars the universe has to offer. I mean, short of becoming an astronaut (which I can’t do because, among other reasons, I have terrible eyesight) it’s the closest you’ll ever get to going to space.
Go Sky Diving
Yeah, it was coming. I mean, come on, if you can jump out of plane what can’t you do, right?
Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef
One of the most common indicators that I’m experiencing anxiety is actually water. It tends to come in dreams, where I see the water’s surface above me but I can’t reach it. I love the idea of being able to both pay my respects to the most powerful force on earth and also to beat my fears about it. All in like the prettiest place ever.
Hike a Mountain
I don’t mean like a hill. I mean like, I dunno, some place in The Alps, some place you plan to hike for weeks, a place you train to hike. The idea of man vs nature (or I am Woman, hear me roar vs. nature) I don’t know if you’re picking up on this, but I’m all over that.
Support Myself With My Art
Whoo hoo, major change of tone here. But the greatest thing in the world to me would be supporting myself, my boyfriend, any family I have, by doing the one thing I love doing more than jumping out of planes or camping under the stars – writing. This one will be harder than climbing Everest, than swimming with the Australian monsters of the deep. But at the end of the day, at the end of what I hope will be a long and fulfilling life, it will be the most worth it.
What woman named ‘Snow’ wouldn’t want the northern lights? As someone who hails from a small town in the northern reaches of the Canadian Rockies, where the lights frequently dance slowly across the sky, I don’t quite get the fascination with auroras. I’ve come to the conclusion they must have a great marketing team, so great that I’d love to hire them to promote my books. Anyone know who they use? 😉
Haha, I didn’t even consider that – you’re right, of course! I’m not jealous of your cold — more of a visit winter than live it person, despite the name! But I’m incredibly jealous of the picture you’ve created! Where I’m from, we just have too much light pollution to see more than a handful of stars. Maybe that’s why I’m so excited by the Northern Lights!
And amen to that! I’ll also take the team that covered the eclipse!
Great post! I helped people achieve their dreams for 12 years and can highly recommend jumping out of a plane. It is the scariest thing I’ve ever done (despite being strapped to a big burly fireman). As you quite rightly say, if you can do that, you can do anything. A great mantra for life Good luck with your adventures!
Thank you so much for your kind words — and wow! It sounds like you had quite the job, do you mind my asking what it was? I do look forward to taking that jump someday soon! And many more adventures to follow, I hope! Thanks so much for reading!
My partner and I organised over 100 events a month for a membership franchise. There were lots of holidays, weekend and local events and we loved the adventure side. We met some amazing people, made some special friends and had the best time ever! My current blog covers some of those stories. Good luck with your goals.
Love your list. I ust added camping under the Northern lights to mine, but I’ll skip the skydiving 🙂 I can’t even ride a roller-coaster. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think that being an artist in this economy is every bit as risky and terrifying as anything else on your list!
*shudder* There’s no amount of money to ever make me want to bail out of a perfectly good airplane! I would like to go scuba diving, or at least snorkeling, on the Great Barrier Reef.
Sherry, I don’t do coasters either!
Count me with the non-jumpers. My daughter surprised me one day by texting me a picture of herself on the way down. If I’d known, and if she’d been living at home, I’d have locked her in her room that day, LOL!
Non-jumper here. I once did the ‘bungee-like’ swing with 2 other people at an amusement park thinking it would help conquer my fear of heights. Nope. lol. Great list!