No, not a list of the presents I want! This list is about a different kind of hope.
Some time ago my friend Gai blogged about the 49 things she wants to do before she’s 50. I found it a very inspiring list - a mixture of treats, challenges, resolutions and plans; things that can be ticked off in one go and things to incorporate into regular life. I thought I’d have a go at my own list. Trouble is I’m ten years older than G, so I decided to make it 50 things to do before I’m 60. It’s my birthday this week, so I’ve got a year to do all the things on my list.
I well remember that after I passed my fiftieth birthday I got a bit gloomy, feeling that there wasn’t much to look forward to, just the downhill slope towards old age. In fact that was untrue, the past nine years have brought lots of wonderful experiences, including a major move to a different part of the country, a lifestyle shift and the birth of three grandchildren. But I know that in my low moments I can lose sight of the good things and forget what it is that I enjoy doing. So this list is to remind me of all the stuff I have to look forward to and remind me that I can still make a contribution to the world.
- Visit Cambridge
- St Ives holiday with all the family to celebrate our 60th birthdays
- Walk (part of) the Kennet and Avon canal
- Make a daisy chain
- Increase exercise to 10,000 steps per day
- Reduce BMI to a healthy level
- Find a tai chi, yoga or pilates class
- Practise meditation every day
- Learn more about meditation and other spiritual exercises
- Keep a thankfulness diary
- Plan a retreat
- Take some kind of pre-retirement course or life coaching
- Reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill
- Where reasonable, avoid buying plastic
- Increase loft insulation
- Grow some vegetables and herbs
- Take part in Earth Abbey’s GrowZone
- Start a wormery
- Make bread once a week
- Take grandchildren on the miniature railway at Ashton Court
- See theatre regularly
- Read two books a month
- One book in five to be a challenge of some kind – maybe a non-fiction book or a classic I’ve never got round to
- Go to a couple of major exhibitions (maybe in London)
- Give myself a weekly treat
- Conquer lace knitting
- Use the screen printing equipment I bought two years ago
- Take an art or textile course
- Get my Central Park embroidery professionally framed
- Get properly fitted for a bra at Rigby & Peller
- Clear cupboards and recycle junk
- Learn how to make an egg custard with confidence
- Continue to explore faith and doubt with my spiritual director
- Do work filing once a month instead of a marathon when life becomes impossible
- Make a simnel cake
- Go to cinema once a month
- Finish my "cortona" quilt
- Research what I need to do to complete my OU degree
- Make a range of "earth friendly" cotton shopping bags for the Arts Trail
- Finish my mother’s florentine canvaswork. This was started in the 1960s. It’s never going to be the rug that was originally intended as some of the wool has run out, but could be a substantial floor cushion
- Have a pedicure
- Write up detailed job notes for my successor at work
- Start an Etsy or Folksy shop to sell my handmade items
- Apply for my bus pass, so I can go on jolly jaunts on local buses around the country
- Get an indigo vat going and do some dyeing
- Invite someone else to join in the fun of indigo dyeing
- Try to save up some money to get my grandmother’s old armchairs reupholstered
- Reawaken my interest in wildflowers and foster my granddaughter’s existing interest in flowers by teaching her the names of wildflowers and collecting some to press
- Sort out the hopeless tangle that is my "jewellery box" and put things neatly (if temporarily) in nice new boxes in tidy little compartments
- Make another list ready for next year!
