If you want to write, you actually have to write.

I must confess that I am someone who has dreamt of writing and being a writer for most of my life, all without actually writing. No, scratch that. I've done a lot of writing. Academic writing back in the days of college and graduate school. Business writing through presentations and research reports and recommendations. Journaling, morning pages, the odd blog post. But I'm not someone with the great American novel bursting out of me. And yet, I think about writing. A lot.

I finally decided to stop thinking about it and start doing it when Alice Bradley offered her online course The Practice of Writing. I've never taken a writing class before. And I really like it. And it's also really hard. And I have no idea of anything I'm writing is really going to go anywhere. But Ms. Bradley keeps reminding us that it doesn't matter right now. Because we are working on the practice of writing. You have to just write.

How convenient that NaBloPoMo starts tomorrow. As Gretchen Rubin points out so well, some things you should try to do every day. So here we go!

Ahem...The Life List of Yours Truly

So I am super excited to be attending Camp Mighty this year (CAUSE IT'S ON MY LIST!!! see below...) and one of the things about Camp Mighty (aside from never talking about Camp Mighty, which isn't true but would be hilarious although counter-productive if it were true) is the LIFE LIST. A work in progress if ever there was one...and here it is:

100 things to do....in no particular order.

1. Learn about jazz.
2. Take a cooking class.
3. Learn proper knife skills.
4. Take a dog agility class.
5. Sew something with knit, with jersey, with wool, with silk.
6. Take a sewing class.
7. Design a knitting pattern.
8. Take a food and wine tour - Spain, Italy, France.
9. Have a custom-designed closet.
10. Write a short story.
11. Keep a blog.
12. Attend something full of creative people: Blogher, Mighty Summit, Camp Mighty.
13. Write a book.
14. Go to a film festival.
15.  Go camping. Tent camping.
16.  Travel to India.
17. Learn to speak a foreign language fluently.
18. Live overseas.
19. Attend the Westminster Dog Show.
20. Try on a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes. Maybe even buy them.
21. Teach my girl to ride a bike.
22. Go to Venice with the hubby.
23. Visit the Netherlands with my girl - see the tulip fields.
24. Go to a Notre Dame football game. Teach the child the fight song.
25. Renew our wedding vows - have the wedding we would have wanted.
26. Take a vacation with friends.
27. Rent a house at a lake for at least a week.
28. Rent a house on the Outer Banks.
29. Build a gigantic sand castle.
30. Spend Christmas in Paris.
31. Take a road trip across the country.
32. Take a cruise with the girl.
33. Go on a whale watch in a zodiac - get close up.
34. Take a ballroom dancing class.
35. Visit Versailles and Vaux le Vicomte.
36. Take the girl ice skating in an outdoor rink.
37. Cut down a fresh Christmas tree.
38. Go to a really traditional midnight mass with great music.
39. Go to a movie premiere.
40. Roller skating with my girl.
41. Take singing lessons.
42. Try out for the Amazing Race.
43. Learn to scuba dive.
44. Go to the Olympics.
45. Start a book club.
46. Go river-rafting.
47. Work on a farm.
48. Have a chicken coop in the backyard.
49. Have a really great garden.
50. Give a TED talk.
51. Eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant in France.
52. Attend a runway show at Fashion Week.
53. Do something everyday for one month - like take a photo, or post on Facebook or on a blog.
54. Learn to ski.
55. Reconnect with my freshman advisee Edward Norton.
56. Sing in public.
57. Go on an African safari.
58. Ride in a hot-air balloon.
59. See a taping of the Daily Show.
60. Visit the Galapagos Islands.
61. Volunteer to read aloud at a local organization.
62. Teach an adult to read.
63. Take a surfing lesson.
64. Become a mentor.
65. Become a board member for an organization I’m really passionate about.
66. Throw a dinner party at least 4 times a year.
67. Cultivate friendships with women I admire.
68. Visit Vancouver.
69. Be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
70. Have 5 songs I can play by heart on the piano.
71. Have a home yoga practice.
72. Do an unassisted pull-up.
73. Learn about photography.
74. Learn to throw a piece of pottery bigger than a saucer.
75. Have high tea in London.
76. Go to Wimbledon.
77. Visit Australia and New Zealand.
78. Be at a vineyard during the Vendange.
79. Take a silent retreat.
80. Take a spa vacation at Canyon Ranch.
81. Visit Yellowstone Park.
82. Go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
83. Walk on the Great Wall of China.
84. Read 100 books in one year.
85. Visit the rainforest.
86. Be in a movie.
87. to be continued....!!!