What would you do if...

Terminal 4, Madrid Barajas Airport.

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you knew you couldn't fail?

Andrea from the Superhero Journal blog posted this question last week on her blog (Scroll down to her post from October 11, 2007). I've spent many hours thinking about that question. Another blog posted by Jen Lemen prompted a whole host of other thoughts: Make a list of 100 things you hope/wish/plan to do before you die.

The following is a combination answer to those two queries.

* Travel all over the world, spending six to twelve months in any city or town that drew me in.

* Get lost in parks, libraries, museums, and airports.

* Dance and sing a lot more. Out loud. In public places.
With my husband and children. And anyone else who would dare to join in.

* Give out a lot more hugs. Tell a lot more people how I feel about them -
well, the good stuff, anyway.

* Keep more of the bad stuff to myself.

* Take the scenic route more often. Pull over. Take photos. Sketch.
Close my eyes and breathe in new scents from scenic places.

* Learn to speak Italian fluently.

* Fly first class to a far-off destination.

* Meet up with my blogging buddies in their hometowns.

* Watch Wimbledon tennis on center court.

* Go back to Paris.

* Take a spontaneous trip. Leave a note, but don't say where I'm going.

* Walk through a museum with a good friend. Gaze silently at the art. Smile.

* Meet some of the people in Antonio's family.

* Become the woman I dream of meeting and knowing.

* Speak to a group of 500 or more people.

* Go for an entire year without buying any clothes.

* But only after going on a "What Not To Wear" type of shopping spree.

* Dance under the full moon.

* Dance in the rain. Get soaked. Keep on dancing.

* Apply for the Rome Prize or some other grant. Go live overseas, explore,
read, write, do research - on someone else's dime.

* Learn to sew - and make my own clothes. Accessories to match, of course.

* Learn to cook better. Learn to like cooking.

* Put up anonymous love notes in public places.

* Be reunited with my most distant brother.

* Sell a lot of our stuff and downsize to a well-built, well-appointed,
well-insulated, "off the grid" bungalow or cottage-style house.

* Stop feeling guilty for all the ways in which my wishes, dreams, and faith conflict. Accept myself and my contradictions. Stop apologizing.

* Realize and accept that my faith and my love for people (no matter their hang-ups, addictions, marital status, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, gender, nationality, immigration status, race, age, etc.), for this planet, and for myself, with all my own hang-ups, addictions, etc --> recognize that those things don't conflict. I am called to love all people. I am called to care for the world that I live in. I am called to be strong and of good courage, to pray without ceasing, and to greet others with a holy kiss. What's wrong with that???




Those are my bags, and that is my coat.
In Madrid, awaiting my flight to La Coruna.
Off to see Antonio.
On the road. On my own.
Bliss.