there are two great days in a person’s life — the day we are born and the day we discover why.

william barclay

Doing what I do best, running away with every good intention. Going to the most northern part of Korea you can touch, safely nestled in a valley in what I have been told is the most beautiful place. Along with me are some of my favorite people and lots of snacks. We will be devouring homemade soju and makegeolli along with delicious treats. Splashing in a creek with water the color of jade,wrestling with some woodland creatures, and hopefully discussing all the world’s beauty and chaos.

Something magical about this year, I finished my life list and I want to share. the inspiration came from her and I hope you feel inspired to make your own!

Life List of Britt Kee Irvin:

{in no particular order}

1. be a trained yoga instructor

2. have my own vegetable garden

3. be present for the birth of a farm animal

4. organize a community mural

5. write and illustrate a children’s book

6. speak French fluently

7. own all of shel silverstein’s work

8. live in India for 4 months

9. learn all I can about sustainable living

10. have a solo exhibition in the following cities, New York City, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, and Nashville

11. send letters to my favorite college professors

12. tell my 4^th grade teacher I am sorry

13. shave my head

14. do a pilgrimage

15. learn to make cheese

16. go to all 50 states {24 x}

17. learn to use my camera manually

18. run my own non-profit dog sanctuary

19. start a community art studio

20. own a classic car

21. start a book club

22. have an exhibition of my student’s work  yearly

23. successfully play any piece of piano music set before me

24. obtain an upright piano

25. visit all 5 of Korea’s National Treasures

26. go to every place I marveled  at in Art History lectures

27. create an original recipe to pass down

28. take my parents on vacation in Hawaii

29. climb all the 14ers in the states {88}

30. learn how to make wine

31. create my own style of I.P.A

32. Re-upholster old furniture

33. Build my own bicycle

34. design and sew my own undies

35. go on a trip with all of my siblings

36. be a really amazing aunt

37. sing at an open stage, a song I wrote, while playing the keyboard

38. write a memoir

39. host a monthly flea market

40. adopt a child

41. dance in the rain with all my girlfriends

42. continue to care for and keep the tree I planted in 1^st grade

43. restore an old house

44. live in it

45. build a tree house in the backyard

46. successfully ride a wave

47. own a letterpress

48. type letters yearly to my dearest

49. be an incredible mother

50. collect all of my favorite children’s books

51. learn how to make sushi

52. build a sweet birdhouse

53. go cliff diving in Mexico

54. do a triathlon solo (group x)

55. take a bicycle trip along the west coast, California to Washington

56. buy zero gifts on Christmas, fly everyone together, and make a wonderful feast!

57. visit the Irvine castle in Scotland

58. have an enjoyable lunch with my mother

59. truly wholeheartedly forgive

60. go on a 2 week sailing trip

61. have someone surprise me at the airport

62. make everyone’s birthday gifts

63. be kissed passionately by a {semi} stranger

64. get my MFA in Painting

65. be off the grid > in my restored home

66. adopt a golden retriever

67. learn how to tattoo

68. go to my high school reunion

69. reconnect with my elementary friend Melissa Muller

70. get married once {yup i am admitting that one day i do want to get married!}

71. go to the tree house hostel in Savannah, Georgia

72. go to every province in Canada

73. see Mt. Everest and partially climb

74. spend no money on clothing for 1 year and instead supply clothing for many others in need

75. have a reunion weekend with my best college friends

76. see the Aurora Borealis

77. be a professor teaching Art Education

78. speak no words for 1 week

79. read all the classics

80. go to a fashion show

81. BALI!

82. see a ghost {or visit a place truly haunted}

83. go to Denmark and ride a sweet bicycle the whole time I am there

84. make blueberry muffins from scratch with my homegrown blueberries

85. tip a waffle house waitress $100

86. embrace running

87. spend 3 whole days exploring the Louvre

88. get lost in Europe with a dear dear friend

89. take a cross country train trip

90. name a crayola crayon

91. find homes for 100 abandoned dogs

92. have coffee with war veteran and thank them for their service

93. sky dive

94. donate blood

95. hot air balloon ride

96. pet deer

97. write down all my parent’s stories

98. see a broadway show

99. make music with my brothers

100. live in a foreign country

Filed under: adventure, Art, Music, Now, Teaching, travel on August 20th, 2010