Comments on: A List of 100 Dreams update, 2015 to now

By: Ferninda Patrycia

Ferninda Patrycia — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 08:26:45 +0000

I lost the piece of paper that has my list (I think I haven’t made up to 100) 🙁
Time to re-do it!!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 14:05:33 +0000

In reply to BethC.. @Beth C - I'm so glad you did it! What a great little adventure, and it sounds like you had a marvelous time.

By: BethC.

BethC. — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 02:41:32 +0000

One of the things that I have wanted to do for a while is to spend a day wandering the West Village in New York. I guess it counts as something that qualifies for the 100 Dreams list but would also fit in as a TBT “little adventure.” I spent last Tuesday doing the wander-stopped in at the oldest pharmacy in New York (C.E. Bigelow), visited the Jefferson Market library and admired its lovely reading room windows, stopped in at Three Lives and Company bookstore, admired the lovely neighborhood brownstones, enjoyed a solo lunch at a delightful Italian restaurant (L’Artusi), grabbed some chocolates at the oldest chocolatier in NY (Li-Lac), browsed up and down Bleecker Street, and grabbed a cup of coffee and watched the world go by. It was glorious!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:12:31 +0000

In reply to Susan.

@Susan – so glad the book has been helpful! I will be doing a Tranquility by Tuesday Challenge starting in late January where people will get emails about the rule and questions to reflect on. Just trying to make it more of an experience…

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 03:11:53 +0000

You may want to consider a time tracking or type type of tracking event that looks at putting in to practice your recommendations from Tranquility by Tuesday. I love that book and have benefited greatly from it. I think the bedtime rule is what benefited me the best. I’m so much more productive and feel so much healthier now that I follow that rule. I’m about to go on a run with my 13-year-old, putting the effort before the effortless activity.

By: Elisabeth

Elisabeth — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 20:14:17 +0000

In reply to Laura Vanderkam.

I’m up for it!

And thanks for bolstering my Goal #8 for 2022…

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 19:54:03 +0000

In reply to Lori C. @Lori C- thank you so much! My goal is to make life more rich and full of good things. You should totally pull out your list of 100 dreams!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 19:52:30 +0000

In reply to Elisabeth. @Elisabeth - I love this! You started a blog for sure. And we should totally collaborate on something!

By: Elisabeth

Elisabeth — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 18:03:02 +0000

What a blast from the past; several years ago I drafted a 100 Dreams List (spurred on by your suggestion) and I…have only looked at it once. Oops. I’m going right now to see how I’ve done (*brief pause that won’t be noticeable in the static environment of a comment form on the internet).
***
I expected to be a bit depressed after reviewing my list – but I’m shocked at how many items I’ve tackled. To be fair, I’ve worked on the lowest-hanging fruit (“sit on the beach and watch a killer sunset” and “enjoy ice cream on a hot summer day” are pretty doable). The ones that I haven’t crossed off are definitely more aspirational and/or time-consuming. Like: give a keynote address, buy a beach property, eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant, cultivate a great marriage and make sure he knows how much I love him – always a worthwhile in-progress goal, there is no finality to this one! – retire early, learn to confidently drive a 5-speed, see Coldplay in concert).

Here are some of the items I’ve crossed off:
Travel –
#3 – See another show on Broadway (saw two this summer)
#6 – Take my daughter to New York City (this summer; hence the 2 Broadway shows)
# 12 – Get to South Carolina to visit my sister (done last May; a trip deferred by 2 years because of COVID)
# 15 – Go on vacation with friends (a short lake trip this summer)

Personal:
# 23 – Get to 125 lbs; this is hilarious both because you had the same goal, and also because this year I stopped weighing myself (hopefully forever!) and now eat “intuitively.” This is one of the biggest shifts of my life in some ways. So this goal IS NO LONGER RELEVANT, but in the best possible way.
#29 – Sing in a choir (done)
#41 – Visit a lighthouse in another country (done; one of our family “things” is visiting lighthouses)
#43 – Print off a compilation of all the family updates that have been sent (I send summary e-mails each month to family/friends; printed off a decade worth of these written diary-like updates)
# 45 – Run in a race – 5KM or higher (done)
#47 – Re-read the Harry Potter series (done)
#53 – Get a pair of skates that actually fits (this sounds minor, but I’ve been using an ill-fitting pair of skates that hurt my feet for over a decade. Someone gave me – free – a pair of skates that fit perfectly).
# 55-58 – Watch a killer sunset on the beach – and just savour the moment of it, Buy and enjoy really good ice cream on a hot summer day, Get a great manicure and pedicure (had my first-ever pedicure this summer), Do Whole30 STRICTLY for 30 days (done, done, done, and done)
# 63 – Start and maintain a blog (done)

Drumroll
#68 – Collaborate with Laura Vanderkam (this is a bit of a stretch, but I did the TBT study with you…and we’ve talked on the phone so I am counting this as a checkmark?!!)

#72 – Participate in NaNoWriMo (I’ll check this off; I did NaBloPoMo this year and it took A LOT of time and energy)

House:
#78 – Buy a BBQ (done)
# 81 – Buy at least 5 REAL plants for our house (done)
# 88 – Re-do the exterior of the house (a huge undertaking!)
# 92 – Hire a housecleaner
#98 – Build a deck, buy outside furniture and drink coffee there on the summer mornings… (completed this summer)

There are a few more I’ve missed that have been crossed off – and there are some HUGE/less likely ones still on the docket (walk along the Great Wall of China, hit the NYT Bestseller List) – but this was a fun and rewarding reminder to look back on that list.

By: Lori C

Lori C — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:30:45 +0000

Wow Laura, how neat that your future self gets to look back at your anticipating self! I should pull out and dust off my 100 dreams list. Your concepts of 100 dreams, and seasonal fun lists, create unique moments in life. I don’t know how to articulate it nicely, but they make life seem more… full. They were particularly helpful for me during COVID. I am grateful for you and your work!