HomeLife

40. a list. call me copycat.

This summer I will be forced to say farewell to my thirties.

It’s been a mixed bag really. That decade.

But I don’t feel nostalgic or reminiscent tonight. (We all know I’ll feel that way in spades later. I’ll wait til then to write that junk. I need all the light hearted I can get for now.)

Anywho.

Forty is a’knocking at the door and I’m stealing an idea or two to make it seem a little more palatable for me.

My friend hannaH just celebrated twenty-nine and she rang in her new number by challenging herself to complete twenty-nine tasks prior to her birthday.

I helped her make the list (Why wouldn’t I? I love lists.) and the making and the thinking was quite contagious.

I decided I didn’t want to try to cram forty tasks in before summer knowing I have a graduating (!) senior this spring.

So my plan is to turn The Year of Forty into a lovely, hopeful year of challenges and growth by making my list of 40 Things To Do While Being Forty.

I’ve started a basic list.

I’ll share my first ideas here with you because, of course, I’d love a little help.

Here’s what I have so far:

1. Read through the Bible cover to cover.

2. Hike Joyce Kilmer Memorial Trail.

3. See the Avett Brothers in concert.

4. Make money from this blog somehow.

5. Attend an off Broadway performance.

6. Submit my writing to NPR.

7. Ride a bike to downtown Greenville on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

8. Write poems on the street to give to strangers.

9. Make yogurt from scratch.

10. Camp on a beach.

Aaaaaand, that’s all I’ve got so far.

Should these measly ones even make the cut? What other big and little challenges should I undertake?

What do you think?

Grand or tiny – I need some ideas to inspire The Year of Forty.

13 Comments

  • Hope

    Ride a horse
    Send a child halfway around the world
    Build a sand castle large enough to sit in
    Hike to the top of mt. Mitchell (the highest point east of the mississippi)
    Ride a segway
    Your 40 new recipes could encompass an exploration of 40 different cultures
    Sew a quilt using fabrics important to each member of your family
    Grow an herb garden
    Start a vermicompost bin (WORMS!!!!)
    Take a self portrait every day while you're 40
    Learn to play a new instrument

    As to your earlier comment about maybe reading Gone with the Wind, I've been "reading" it since just before Woodson was born almost 4 weeks ago; I'm on page 82. It has yet to draw me in, but I'm still hopeful!!! You should put on your list "finish Gone with the Wind before Hope makes it to the outbreak of the war" because that 's a bit more like a challenge!

  • Beth

    go visit beth in louisville.
    wear overalls for a whole week.
    dye your hair.
    make a mix tape.
    eat a meal with no utensils.
    just a few ideas… 🙂

    • lacey35

      You should be on the list for sure.

      And the rest of those?

      I think we could call that list Freshman Year, couldn't we?

      Actually – a no-utensil dinner sounds fun!

  • Ann

    So you beat me by 13 years….. I was 53 last year when I read the whole Bible in one year….. Whyever did I wait so long? This year, I couldn't wait. I love your mixture of monumental and ordinary. I can think of an endless list as I too love a list but I will keep suggestions to a minimum. Read Les Miserables ( I bet you already have ) and hand-write a letter to someone once a week. 🙂

    • lacey35

      Why have we waited so long?

      I have not read Les Mis – and I thought about Gone With the Wind too – never read or saw that one..

      Please – give me more ideas! 🙂

  • Allie Pust

    Ha ha! Chelsea! That's awesome.
    I can not believe the "admin" approved that one though.

    40 random acts of kindness–gifts, notes, something anonymous
    40 new never-before-tried recipes

  • Rachel

    Run a 5k. Forty date nights. Individual dates with each kid. Learn something new. Perfect a recipe. Purge 40 bags of stuff. Take 40 photographs.

  • @treadingwater

    So… another idea to celebrate 40… :o)
    I had a friend a few years ago that was turning 30 and she decided in order to celebrate that fact (and to prove to herself that she was still young and fun), that she would have sex with her hubby at least once a day for the thirty days leading up to her 30th birthday. Her husband was happy to celebrate this milestone with her (ahem, happy is an understatement) and it was amazing what it did for their relationship, her self confidence, etc. She has referred to it very positively since and I wouldn't be surprised if it had become a tradition of sorts.
    Ha! Well, there you go. Just to get a little personal in the morning. ;o)

    • lacey35

      This was a pretty bold one to wake up to.

      I think I was still in bed and half asleep when I read it.

      I ran it by Kevin. He said we could give it a go. 🙂