Sunday, July 13, 2008

35



tomorrow i turn 35.

this past year i have felt old and icky quite often. so here is my list of 35 strategies for not feeling old this year.

1. go out dancing more (though this could backfire when i see all the whippersnappers on the dance floor).
2. don't compare self to whippersnappers.

3. flirt more.

4. ok, just flirt. (i'm so out of practice!)

5. exercise.

6. eat more whole foods.

7. think about all the rad people who are older than me, including grannies and grampses.

8. appreciate my health.

9. don't think too much about how jiggly my upper arms are, or how i have a LOT of grey hair.

10. take risks regularly (may sound antithetical, but i mean it in an impulsive way).

11. remember that getting older is a part of life, and

12. when i hear the twenty year olds on BART asking each other if they know the song take on me by aha, and when i realize they were NOT EVEN BORN when take on me first played on mtv, revel in the madness of this.

13. don't dwell on the fact that my birthday lists are getting extremely long.

14. celebrate experience and the accumulation and love of stories.

15. see/listen/be with openness.

16. try new foods, a new style of dress, new activities.

17. wear comfortable shoes.

18. occasionally wear uncomfortable shoes for hot factor.

19. keep eating bi-rite ice cream just whenever the hell i feel like it.

20. stay in touch with childhood (and adulthood) friends (and contact friends in general when i am feeling lonely, instead of just feeling lonely).

21. do some somersaults or jump rope.

22. set up a badminton net (a makeshift one perhaps) in the backyard and ride my bike down more hills.

23. cut and paste and scribble.

24. make some exquisite corpses with friends.

25. skip, sing, giggle and guffaw.

26. walk arm in arm.

27. find a nice snuggle bug (of the human variety, not cat).

28. enjoy more communal dinners.

29. play more games. play more.

30. get involved in activities that are bigger than me, that connect to a greater community.

31. gain more faith in my dreams (easier said).

32. say what it is i want, what i mean, what hurts, what moves me.

33. pay more attention to senses other than sight.

34. remember 35 is just half of 70.

35. remember what is important.

(tomorrow some notes and links from the renegade craft fair, which i went to today and which was fantastic!)


12 comments:

Nidhi said...

happy birthday tomorrow! I love this list. I am going to have to write one too now in a little over a month :) Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

åh! grattis i förskott! vilken bra lista. gillar nr 18 jättemycket. ha en finfin födelsedag, kram!

shari said...

happy birthday shash! love that photo of you. i just turned 35 too. may you have a wonderful year. xo

jo :: feather and thread said...

happy birthday! I hope you have a good one.... i love your list - and your photo is beautiful - truly...x

Anonymous said...

This is a great list. Happy birthday!

Anonymous said...

happy birthday! your list is great - i love no. 12.

Erika said...

Men du vilken kalaslista, stolt och på-riktigt! Jag tar åt mig varenda paragraf. Hoppas att du får en underbar födelsedag. Kram från Sverige! (hade du varit här hade du fått en rabarbermargarita på nyfiken gul (.se))En annan gång.

Hayley said...

happy birthday! I love #32.
Cheers!

matirose said...

happy birthday!!!
so good to be your friend.
hoping this year is full.
xxo
mati

scaredy-cat said...

oh, congratulations! those 35 things sound pretty good to me. ...by the way, i've been wishing for a while i was in my thirties already (don't have to wait THAT long), for i'm sure i'll be happier then. or, more content. (maybe i should start working on that if i really want it to happen...)

lotta said...

What gray hair? You will always be much younger than me. Belated happy birthday!

Anonymous said...

Great List, happy belated birthday (I will be this age next year).
:)