My husband and I went on a blowing date. Of course, as the title suggests, glass blowing but wasn’t your image a lot more fun?
Back to the subject at hand (stop that!).
I think our final glass products turned out great. My husband and I had lots of laughs. We learned a lot. Others thought it was pretty cool. But for me it was meh.
For those of you without teenagers or internet, meh means meh. JK, it is the same at whatevs, or, if you must, whatever with the added shoulder shrug and eyebrow raise.
Have I done so many amazing adventures that I can no longer appreciate exciting days? I feel like I was right there in the moment and soaking up the time, effort, and the opportunity to be there. Even the wait to pick up our final creations didn’t bother me. I use the glass I made to hold readers in the living room, so it isn’t even the usefulness.
It must be that I’ve done too much too close together. Good thing to learn when you are forty-three weeks in instead of seven. That would have been worse, ‘faking it,’ through a gruelling year of having fun on the outside and dying a little on the inside would be difficult.
I know, no need to cry for me and my fabulous life. I get it.
But let this be a lesson to you. Do not try this at home. Doing something new each week is an amazing adventure better had over the course of years. I suppose writing these reflections gives each activity the import it deserves, but it doesn’t happen at the moment. It happens over time. The luxury I did not afford myself this year.
If you have had children, you understand how quickly time flies. Each milestone gets closer and closer together, and you can’t distinguish the first steps from the first college acceptance. Time is what we all crave. The time I didn’t give myself.
I am asked three questions about my year of weekly bucket list items on a regular basis.
Why did I do this? To which I say, I suffered three years of crippling depression. Whatever I did had better top THAT fun time and just participating in life didn’t seem enough.
What was your favourite adventure? My top three to date are goat yoga, a food fight, and flyboarding.
How did you come up with all your ideas (this one stymies me every time)? There is this thing called Google, and I spent a lot of time asking it about bucket list things I should do. Sometimes it told me to eat haggis, so then I would buy a new computer.
It is rare someone asks how I managed the time. Time to research, plan, organize, and actually have the experience. I suspect it is because we are all used to running at such a fast pace, that it didn’t seem like much of a stretch to get all this done in one year.
I’ll answer it anyway: It was a huge stretch! I can’t wait to have a nap. Not even kidding.
That doesn’t mean I would undo my year. I have learned more about myself this year than I remember since my own first steps. I understand how to be patient, to love myself, to accept. Actually, you can look back and see all my lessons which are at forty-three and counting. But, this week I learned that it is OK to have a day that is meh. And, I hope there are plenty of them in my future. Those days allow room in your heart to appreciate the WOW when it shows up. That is a lesson worth learning any day, week, or year.
My Turning 50 Like a Boss Tip: Appreciate time.
Check out the video: Tick Tock
