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I have a friend who is dying of cancer. She is only a few weeks younger then my mother, and has two children of her own. She is days away from the end of her life. It is clear to me that “July 2008” will be written on her gravestone, for she shan’t live out that month. With her death so close, I have been reflecting on my own mortality. I also just finished watching The Doors for the first time. It surprised me to learn Jim Morrison died at 27. With this as a mental background, I was reflecting on this blog, one weekly goals, and on something my father, Alexander, said earlier. He said about a month before going on a long trip, he made a list of everything he needed to do before he left. As it grew closer to the time to leave, some things he would scratch out because they were completed, and others because he recognized they didn’t actually need to be done. One way or another, he said, just about everything would be struck off when it was time to leave. My small weekly goals, I have come to understand, are to little. I am still afraid to jump in to the proverbial swimming pool, just dipping in my proverbial toe. There are things I want to do before I die. Things I really should do soon. So here is a list (or maybe technically a few lists) of things to do in the next week, this summer, and before I die. I will update it about once a week.
In The Next Week
-Write to my Uncle Brian and my Grandfather Stu
-Send in my application to renew my passport.
-Work on movie script for Keir
-Call a short list of friends, keep in contact with them.
-Call about getting another copy of my high school diploma
-Select my university courses for next year
-Sit with Mary before she dies. (DONE, but want to do again)
-email Pascal about working on a graphic novel or webcomic together.
This Summer
-Finish a science fiction short story about Eusocial humans that I started.
-Write a short book about providence.
-Finish the script for Keir
-Get a letter of permission from Carleton.
-Get a Student Visa so I can go abroad next year
-Get into better shape
-Become more grounded, balanced, and disciplined.
-Finish reading and editing Alexander’s book.
-Hike up Sleeping Beauty Mountain.
-Hike to the Pesuta Shipwreck.
-Visit North Beech and Tow Hill.
-Give a gift to my elders
Before I die.
-Father children. Note the plural. Raise them with their mother.
-Give to the world. Make a large-scale contribution, and change it for the better.
-Travel the world extensively.
-Learn to think in another language.
-Practice playing the flute
-Complete my Bachelor’s degree.
-Skydive
-Learn Calculus, discrete mathematics and advanced algebra.
-Hike up the East coast of Graham Island.
-Travel on a Sailboat.
-Learn about enough about tracking, wilderness survival and wildcrafting that I could live alone in the forest indefinitely .
-Live on Haida Gwaii for a consecutive year.
-Return to Yasodhara Ashram
-Take the Yoga Development Course at Yasodhara ashram.
-Study Philosophy, including Aesthetics, formal logic, Nietzsche, phenomenology, more Plato, whoever wrote “The Doors of Perception,” Descartes, Leibniz, and more.
I will add to the list as I think of more.
My new slightly quieter Corsi-Rosenthal box
4 days ago
6 comments:
Zander, I love your list! One of my life goals was to raise two good men. I can now cross that off my list - I have accomplished this goal. But I cannot take all the credit. You are a good man, in part, because of your strength of character, and the intelligent, sometimes hard, choices that you have made all along. Thank you for sometimes trusting my advice and often ignoring my advice, as you did your best to be true to your heart to become the incredible person that you are!
You're welcome for my last comment, Zander, I'm always happy to ground one of you youngsters.
Speaking of grounding, your todo lists seem awfully ambitious to me. I hope you'll feel happy if you accomplish only a fraction of what's there.
On the other hand, there is something missing: "Continue blogging long enough to get on David's Blogroll".
zander, a few things:
firstly, send my love to mary.
secondly, send my love to yourself and alexander.
thirdly, this is already a part of morning coffee. i'm not good at commenting but nevertheless i am reading.
fourthly, your list is eerily liketo my own, shorter list i wrote earlier this year.
i'm curious: it seems as if you have every intention to complete every one of those goals but what are your feelings being unable to?
okay, i really need to go to bed now.
Love,
Mike
PS believe it or not, reading your blog actually inspires me to continue re-thinking my use of time and thought (and, ironically to continue only really thinking about it. action is a scary place)
I'll help you with skydiving. It's one of my life goals as well. Wouldn't that be a fun reunion for the two of us!
:)
Manon- Thank you.
David- I think it is better to only put things on the list that I am independently capable of.
Mike- I am really glad you are reading the blog, Mike. I will give you a call when you are back in town. The post above this one will answer your question. Action is a scary place at first. Then damn does it ever feel good. Thanks for telling me you are feeling inspired, Mike. Means a lot to me.
Denika- Sounds awesome, hun.
ZAN! I loved this post, and one thing i noticed is you want to go sky diving. I never knew this! It has been mine and Alexanders plan to make a jump as soon as i legally can, so you should join us! you can mark the date on the list for that as September 24 2010, unless of course; you do it yourself sooner.
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