the (almost) final tally of 2013's LIST OF 100 THINGS TO DO

I haven't mentioned the List in some time not because I abandoned it, but because the List shifted my focus away from itself and onto the new paths it has forged in my life. I am now standing on one of those new paths at the far edge of 2013, marking the last days of my second List year. 

The first List of 100 Things began on my yoga mat, on December 31, 2011. It was inspired by a friend's own list (you can read about it here), and although I had no premeditated plan to embark on my own, there I was at 8 p.m. in the front row of a packed New Years Eve intentional yoga class, thinking about the upcoming 2012 and some things I hoped to do. Though it took me several months to come up with all 100, that night was the beginning. 

The List of 100 Things To Do in 2012 

1.  go back to Big Sur with Darby
2. meditate on 3rd chakra - yellow, strength, power, belly
3. play more music
4. plant herbs & veggies in backyard
5. show more love to Darby
6. go to a show at McCabe's 

In the first few weeks of 2012, the list was like a scavenger hunt. Every day I scanned it to see what I could cross off or start working on. There was a sense of freedom about this particular To Do list - the very length of it helped me to both work towards completion and know that it would never be complete. There was also a spiritual sense to it - some of the items were practical and could be crossed off easily, but some were less tangible, more meditative. 

So, how did that first year feel? A little practical. Those socks I'd meant to darn? Done. Ditto old clothes donated. Ditto the back-up hard drive.

But more than practical, the List was magical. Even now, at the end of my second List year, I am still in awe of how my life has changed. The List opened up inner desires of how I wanted to live. It encouraged me to break beyond patterns I had fallen into, let go of final outcome, push past anxiety that was holding me from taking the first steps in things I had been secretly yearning to do. The short story I had been wanting to revise for six years? The List got me to dig it out, and sit down and write. The List got me to run longer, further. And running and writing became intertwined, as every morning I worked on the short story, and every afternoon I reviewed the story in my mind as I ran. I got stronger in body and spirit, and the inner chatter about all the ways I don't measure up to media's perfection finally quieted. 

The List of Things To Do in 2013 is three typed pages long. Just like last year, the writing of it was several months of fits and starts, paperclips keeping track of my sloppy almost-cursive hand over the pages of my journal, items scribbled out in black and blue ink as the pages of the moleskin were spent and that volume finally tucked with the others in my closet. As most of my journaling tends to be, the list got unruly. Sometime in the late spring I typed it up neatly, numbered each item with little square boxes for checkmarks, and folded the three printed pages into the back pocket of my current moleskin. I didn't look at it much recently, caught up as I have been with school and other things, but the year is ending, and so is the list.

In the end, my work with running in 2012 led me to 2013's running Door to the Shore and M2B running goals. My work on the story led me take a few online classes at UCLA and then to apply to (and get accepted) (and begin) the MFA in Creative Writing at Antioch. I have become a runner. I have become a writer. I have become a swimmer. And most importantly, I found my way to a place where I can work steadily towards goals while enjoying the process along the way. The List has been teaching me how to step up and do my part, and when my part is done, how to surrender the result to the universe. 

This week I tallied up the items that I have completed on my List of 2013. A few days ago it was 59, with a probable final tally of 61, exactly what last year's final list tally was (59 by the end of the year, but 61 in the end). Yesterday Darby and I took the girls ice skating , so now I'm up to 60. 

#83 Do a winter sport of any kind

80 degrees, and ice skating at the outdoor rink in Burbank.

So here it is. THE LIST OF 100 THINGS TO DO IN 2013.

1. Go back to Big Sur with Darby (done)
2. Go camping with the girls (done)
3. Make a new playlist for yoga (done)
4. Teach creative flow workshop at RLY (done)
5. Transfer 100 Things blog to blogger (done)
6. Customize the LTA blog
7. Create a running blog (done)
8. Run from our door to the Santa Monica pier (done)
9. Run a half marathon (done)
10. Take a UCLA writing class (done)
11. Get 10 rejections 
12. Publish essays (done)
13. Learn "Long Way" by Antje Duvacot
14. Learn "Wonderwall"
15. Create running/yoga/wellness FB page (done)
16. Send "Palimpsest" out for publication (done)
17. Switch phone or plan provider (done)
18. Combine AAA with Darby (done)
19. Write a new kirtan song
20. Plant garden behind garage
21. Get compost started
22. Teach cooking workshop with CH
23. Post 12 LTA blogs
24. Teach a cooking class
25. Get a new couch (done)
26. Get new sheets for the bed (done)
27. Revise and submit "Slackline"
28. Revise and submit "21 years"
29. Revise and submit "Apple Pie"
30. Revise and submit "Coldest of Cold" (done)
31. Getaway to El Morocco with Darby  (done)
32. Take a fiction writing class
33. Book Creative Flow at new studio 
34. Book CF at RLY
35. Drink martinis with Darby in a hotel lobby
36. Get a mani/pedi (done)
37. Buy new running shoes (done)
38. Go to eye doctor (done)
39. Take time to work on The List (done)
40. Hire a new CPA (done)
41. Run a half marathon in 1:55
42. Get a new coat or new lining for coat (done)
43. Beat LA half marathon time (1:58:01)
44. Sign up for a full marathon (done)
45. Take a pottery class with Emerson (done)
46. Send Shirley the DJ Soul Salaam (done)
47. Send Liz a care package in Spain (done)
48. Run 1200 miles in 2013
49. Plant window box
50. Plant rosemary and lavender around the house
51. Do a regularly scheduled LTA post
52. Submit Meditation essay (done)
53. Send returns to Title IX (done)
54. Plant avocado trees (done)
55. Organize hall closet (done)
56. Do 30 days of yoga
57. Try a new thing you've never done before (done)
58. Do 100 pushups in a day (done)
59. Subscribe to the NY Times (done)
60. Record and post Odessa to Youtube (done)
61. Record and post Highway 79 to Youtube (done)
62. Open CD or money market account at credit union
63. Write a folk song (done)
64. Book a financial planning appt with UBS 
65. Write "if I am ever untethered from a desk" list (done)
66. Write haikus (done)
67. Get a new guitar gig bag (done)
68. Hike Runyon with Emerson (done)
69. Have a garage sale
70. Submit essay for Modern Love (done)
71. Run everyday for a month
72. Apply to Antioch MFA (done)
73. Take a random day off from work (done)
74. Hike Mt Baldy
75. Make tag necklace for Darby (done)
76. Work on one piece of art every day, any medium (done)
77. Heal knee (done)
78. Sign up for Marathon #2
79. Run first full marathon (done)
80. Paint a painting (done)
81. Play a singer-songwriter gig (done)
82. Do Hansen marathon training method
83. Do a winter sport of any kind (done)
84. Make cupcakes or cake for office (done)
85. Host a party
86. Go rollerskating (done)
87. Host the 3rd annual punkin party
88. Make a kirtan mix for R
89. Take the girls to a polo match
90. Plant pumpkins
91. Do community service with the girls at holidays
92. Swim laps at Aquatic center (done)
93. Polish and rework songs to performance level  (done)
94. Update ASCAP so I can get royalty payments (done)
95. Go to Disney with Darby and the girls (done)
96. Expand "Odessa" past Odessa (done)
97. Get ball rolling for CKC demo (done)
98. Change strings on guitar (done)
99. Take myself out to dinner (done)
100. Get a library card (done)

Perhaps next year's should say "Practice math skills". As it turns out, I've already done 63 this year. And still with four days left of the year...