Krishnamurti

“There is great happiness in not wanting, in not being something, in not going somewhere.”

—J. Krishnamurti

So, about this blog. It has no defined purpose at the moment. I don’t know what it is about, or where it will go. It will most likely start out as a hodge podge of thoughts, and may remain that way! I would like to attempt to chronicle the journey that this year’s “birthday list” takes me on.

For those of you who don’t know about the “birthday list” phenomenon, I shall explain. I was slightly traumatized about turning 30 and being broke, single, and not being on anything remotely resembling a career path. (Ask me how I feel about being in the same situation at 34!!)

So in order to distract myself from the impending doomsday, I decided to do 30 things I had never done…in the 60 days leading up to my date of birth. Quite ambitious, no? Needless to say, subsequent birthdays have not been much easier to handle. Therefore, I have continued on with the birthday list phenomenon. This year, I embark on my sixth birthday list journey.

The 60-day deadline proved to be stressful, so the following year, I changed it to 90 days…and somehow it morphed into a 365-day thing last year. This year, I think I am going to start now, and that will give me four months to complete 35 things. We’ll see how that goes.

Over the years, some “traditions” have formed. Each list includes visiting a place I have never been for my birthday (I’m always careful to leave on the trip BEFORE my actual birthdate, so it’s legit). I try a food or drink I have never tried. I read books and watch movies I have never read or watched. I explore parts of Boston that I have never stumbled upon. Sometimes I do cheat, and if I randomly happen to do something really cool, it goes on the list!

This annual undertaking has been quite effective in distracting me from thinking about my aging process, and I highly recommend the practice.