When I created this blog, a billion and one years
ago, I was looking for a way to remind myself daily of my inspiration to lead a
more elegant and “put together” life.
Jackie was my inspiration for that.
I read a book called “What Would Jackie Do”…and learned a lot about
inspired living, and what it means to create a daily reality for yourself. Over the past few years, I’ve abandoned that
goal and this site. In September, I
turned 39. I’ve been mentally prepping
myself to turn 40 for a while now, but when I actually hit 39….something
clicked. I finally realized, these are
the last 12 months of my thirties. I’m
not having some kind of existential midlife crisis about turning 40…it’s more
like I’ve made so many huge life changes in the past nine years…that I’ve
forgotten or ignored some of the things that are ingredients in an inspired
life, a life lived well. So, on the eve
of my 39th birthday, I had a crazy idea to make a list of 40 things
I’d like to accomplish before I turn 40.
It seems like an innocent enough idea…40 things. Not all of them have to be Earth shatteringly
poignant. Just a simple list of 40
things to be conscious of during the next year.
So I wrote a list. It looks like
this:
It’s no secret that I regularly meet with a
counselor/therapist. His name is Steve,
and he is fantastic and has really helped me change the way I think about
myself and deal with my emotions in a more productive and understanding
way. I knew as soon as I started jotting
down the list that this project was something he would fully get behind. So the nest time I met with him, I laid out
the idea. As expected, he was all
in. We took a closer look at the list
together, and began to carve out some of the details I was missing, and also to
consider one important thing that I had sort of overlooked. There were FORTY items on this list. A year has 52 weeks. Some of my items were somewhat time specific,
and some would take more than one day to complete. So with Steve prompting me, I looked at the
list and broke it down into a loose schedule, starting with things I can do now
(Fall), Winter, Spring and Summer of next year.
I took the list home and looked at it some
more. In one day, my cool fun idea had
gone from concept to reality. It had
also gone from fun to a little bit stressful, if I’m being honest. It was an ambitious project to begin with,
and now the reality of the commitment necessary to complete it was starting to
hit me. Added to the fact that I was in
the middle of the busiest chunk of time so far in my career, I was ready to
quit before I even started.
The next few weeks were a blur, mostly because I
was working 12+ hours a day, and traveling on top of that. The list stayed tucked into my planner. I thought about it at times, but…I was
already feeling desperate and overwhelmed with my workload. Adding in extra tasks, even tasks that look
to be fun or fulfilling, just wasn’t going to happen.
October whizzed past, and then it was
November. I had made a half-hearted attempt
to start some of the items on the list that would take more time to complete, but
nothing measurable. Steve, to his
credit, kept his end of the bargain as my credibility partner and asked about
it during every session. Finally, as I
was able to dig out from my work madness at the beginning of November, I began
to fan the spark that started this whole project in the first place. I realized that I had unwittingly started or
completed several items already…and this gave me momentum.
It is now November 13. Seven weeks have passed, and there is nothing
I can do to get them back. I can however
begin now, today and make this list come to life. Item number 39 on the list was “Keep a
Journal”. I know myself well enough to
know that I am not going to hand write in a journal every evening before I go
to bed or anything like that. Then I
remembered this blog site, long ignored abandoned.
I began to wonder if I should re-work this site,
and create a new direction. Eliminate
the Jackie tie in and start fresh. But
then I started thinking…how much of Jackie’s incredible life happened AFTER she
turned 39? I have never claimed to be an
expert on Jackie, and I don’t intent to become one. So, I did what anyone would do. I googled it.
Turns out, Jackie was 39 year old the year she married Ari Onassis. Not only that, but after Ari died in 1975,
she began an entirely new career in publishing, at age 46.
With this information at hand, I was feeling a
renewed sense of excitement, and not just about this project, but about the
next chapter of my life. It seems to me
that My Life with Jackie is just starting the next phase. And it is starting with 40 things I want to
do before I turn 40. I hope my journey
is inspiring and that someone actually reads it. If not, it will be enough for me to be able
to look back on it myself in another ten years and reflect on how far I’ve
come, yet again.
THE LIST:
- Plant a tree
- Shoot a gun
- Pay for someone’s groceries
- Save $5,000
- Learn to use a sewing machine
- Have professional photos taken
- Plant a garden (flower or herb/veg)
- Give up fast food for 1 month
- Release a floating lantern
- Run a 5k
- Buy a holiday gift for a homeless person
- Volunteer – Library? Reading Initiative?
- Read a “Classic”
- Spend a whole day with my Grandma
- See the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
- Finish a craft project
- Watch baby turtles hatch
- Pay off credit card debt
- Go fishing with my dad
- Get a good haircut and color
- Do a Float Tank
- Go to the Ballet / Opera / Symphony
- Skinny Dip
- Participate in a Bible study
- Rent a fancy car for a drive along a coast line OR for a night on the town
- Sleep out under the stars
- Try a new church
- Cook (and eat!) a fish dinner
- Keep an orchid or violet alive
- Donate to Toys for Tots
- Rent a boat for a day
- Go on a picnic
- Give up TV for one month – INCLUDING Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.
- Ride a Bike
- Play in the snow
- Take Zeke to the science center or a museum
- Take Murphy to the dog park
- Keep a journal
- Spend a day shopping for antiques / flea market
