A life that sizzles and pops... #6-10

"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. 

And I don’t want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines, and sing out loud in the car with the windows open, and wear pink shoes, and stay up all night laughing, and paint my walls the exact colour of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets, and throw parties, and eat ripe tomatoes, and read books so good they make me jump up and down."

-Shauna Niequist (writer) 


#6 

GO FOR MORE RUNS ALONG THE BEACH

I would like to think of myself as a runner...in the same way I would like to think of myself as being a supermodel...but we would just be fooling ourselves here. Till I saw this Nike ad, and I'll be damned if I'm not a runner!

I pretty much hate every second that my feet are pounding the pavement, I look all sweaty, everything is shaking and I'm probably the slowest person out there, but then I feel so amazing afterwards, that my brain tricks me into thinking that I actually enjoy it. Damn you endorphins! Recently I have started early morning runs and yes, I have to get up at 5:15am and yes, I realise this is slightly insane, but the early morning chill and quiet make for an excellent start to the day. Try it. It sucks...and then it doesn't.

Oh, but back to the beach. I for one take it for granted how lucky we are to have the ocean this close and accessible. So my mission is to take a mini road trip two weekends a month and run along the beach front, from Greenpoint, along the promenade and just enjoy the breath taking views, while imagining myself to be a runner :).

#7

STAY IN A BEDROOM WITH A FIREPLACE

There is just something about a room with a fireplace that says, “come inside, kick off your shoes and curl up with a snug blanket and a good book.” And who would not want to do exactly that?

Here in this cosy room just me and you

Oh cuddling and kissing making sweet love

Shooting star wishing and watch the sun come up

And then we’ll sleep all day

Meet in our dreams and live life our way

Drop it all off and we’ll fly away

Dip through the stars and wake up slowly

- Justin Nozuka

#8

MAKE A WISH ON A SHOOTING STAR

Maybe The Avett Brothers say it best (via youremymuse.tumblr.com):

Keep your clothes on- I’ve got all that I can take.

Teach me how to use the love that people say you make.

Stop your parents’ car- I just saw a shooting star.

We can wish upon it but we won’t share the wish we made.

But I can’t keep no secrets, I wish that you would always stay.

-Laundry Room

I have never seen a shooting star (I’ve had those, “there’s one...no wait...it’s the flashing light of a plane” moments), so maybe #8 should be to SEE a shooting star and THEN make a wish on it?

But oh, what to wish for...

One of my favourite blogs I like to follow, bippityboppityboo, had the following to say...and yes I have :).

Have you ever, like, seen somebody? And you knew that, if only that person *really* knew you … they would, well, they would of course dump the perfect model that they were with, and realize that YOU were the one that they wanted to, just, grow old with.

But then it is important to understand that making your dreams come true requires an effort from your side as well, but most importantly, you have to realise that dreaming in the daylight, with your eyes wide open, is as, if not more, important.

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, 

and make it possible.

-T.E. Lawrence

So the best advice would probably be just to wish on everything...

#9 
HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS, DECORATE A REAL CHRISTMAS TREE, BUILD A SNOWMAN, MAKE SNOW ANGELS AND WIN A SNOW BALL FIGHT 

The words I love you

fall like snowflakes from your lips

and melt on my tongue. 

-Tyler Knott Gregson

Damn those American movies. I’m sure it will be cold, wet and uncomfortable...but oh so much fun. I want the real deal: a snowman with a carrot for a nose, make proper snow angels, get hit with a snowball (hopefully not in the face, I hear those things hurt like hell) and nail someone with my wicked right arm. 

And I do love Christmas, it’s my second favourite celebration after all things birthday related. There is just something magical about the tree and the lights, the family, the happiness, the blessing, the promise and the celebration. 

And a little something from the piece ‘Just Like’ from Tyler Knott Gregson 

Just like shoes need feet to fill them and those feet need socks to warm them and the warmth needs the cold to feel warm at all and the cold needs to see our breath to feel worthy and just like our breath needs our lungs to give it shape and those lungs need sighs to refill them and those sighs need eyes to inspire them and those eyes need glasses to protect their fragile and sunflowered color from the sunshine and the sunshine needs rain to make rainbows and those rainbows need cameras to immortalize them forever and just like those cameras need hands to push the shutter and lock tight its colors and those hands need to be held, soaking and shaking as they might be, I need you.

#10
RUN A HALF MARATHON 

I'm only up to 7 kilometres at the moment...21 kilometres may be a bit far fetched, but I'll get there eventually...I'm sure...I think...I hope...?

Keep you posted.

Rachel

xoxo

The wait is over... #1-5

So the time has finally come for me to start posting my list...the adventure is about to begin...

#1

LEARN TO PLAY THE CELLO

Music (noun)

1. The art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

2. The vocal or instrumental sound produced this way.

Music...beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion...well, that pretty much covers it. There are very few people, probably with the exception of Jake, that can fully understand the impact that music has on my life. Music is there for me as soon as I open my eyes in the morning, I'm surrounded by it the whole day (yes, I am THAT person that always wears earphones while I'm working) and it can cheer me up in an instant or take me back to a specific memory in a flash and there is power in that.

Do yourself a favour and take a look at the Closer to the Edge music video from 30 Seconds To Mars. They have snippets of people talking and these are two of my favourite quotes from the video:

"Some people believe in God, I believe in music. You know, some people pray, I turn up the radio."

"Music is everything."

PS I saw them live when they were in South Africa. Three words...A-MAZE-ING. This is one band that sounds even better live than on their CDs.

So now that I have tried to explain to you a little of my obsession with all things music related, I think learning to play the cello (my favourite instrument), will be an extension of my love for music. This instrument is soulful, not as girly as a violin and can create hauntingly beautiful sounds. I am also working on the "what I'm listening and dancing to at the moment" section (once I've figured out how to post this separate list thingie...this blogging thing is harder than you might think), so I can share all the music that I love and the newest music I find, because after all, sharing is caring.

#2

SEE THE GOO GOO DOLLS LIVE IN  CONCERT

As with many a great song, think Angel by Sarah McLachlan and Uninvited by Alanis Morissette, I was introduced to the song Iris from The Goo Goo Dolls by watching the movie City of Angels (epic film of course...Seth...). What I might be listening to or liking at the moment might change, but Iris will always be my favourite song. I came across this video, posted on Twitter. They are performing Iris...live...IN THE POURING RAIN...you can thank me later :).

#3

SEND MY PARENTS ON AN OVERSEAS TRIP

We all wish we could do something special for our parents as somewhat of a "repayment" or "thank you" for raising us and helping to mould us into the people we are today. So of course I wish I could give them a trip like this (they have always wanted to go to Israel)...they are celebrating their 32nd wedding anniversary soon, so maybe if I start saving up, they could spend one of the next anniversaries holding hands (yes, they still do that) in a foreign country...now wouldn't that be sweet!

#4

WRITE A NOVEL

Anybody that knows me, has seen the house where I grew up (my parents raised me to be a reader, thank heavens for that), my bedroom or even my purse (yes, I carry them around with me, you just never know when you will have a minute to read), knows of my obsession with books...reading them, collecting them, devouring them, browsing for them...My name is Rachel and I am a bibliophile. I have been an addict for more than 20 years...and I don't intend to stop using any time soon!

"Books are a hardbound drug with no danger of an overdose. 

I am a happy victim of books."- Karl Lagerfeld

I have always thought of myself as somewhat of a writer (delusional much?), and what would be the ultimate thing to write...a novel of course. I haven't really figured out any of the pesky little details like the plot and characters yet (minor details, I tell you), but I would love to write something I can call my own and see on a bookshelf, crack open and inhale that exquisite "new book" smell.

I have a couple of favourite fiction writers (I'll share some of them a bit later), but I came across this one writer, Tyler Knott Gregson, a guy with the ability to pretty much put down on paper what we all are feeling, but do not always have the ability to verbalise. The following paragraph is an excerpt from one of the pieces he wrote, called 'Just Like'. I'll share the rest of the piece along the way, but just for now, know that everything he writes is beautiful.

- Just Like -

Just like the pen so desperately needs to bleed all over

the paper when pausing too long on the edges of a letter

and just like the paper so intensely needs to remember its

time as a tree and that tree needs to feel it’s longest

branches bouncing with the weight of a curious squirrel

and that squirrel needs to find just one more acorn before

the snow finds her and just like that snow needs to fall and

feel itself being rolled and squished into the head of a snowman

and that snowman needs a carrot for a nose and that carrot

needs a peeler in capable hands and those hands need to be

held, dry as they might be, I need you.

#5

BUY A NEW CAR

This is probably on the wishlist of pretty much every person I know. But here's the difference, I don't want the most expensive or flashy car out there, it doesn't even have to be red or sporty, just a new one.

So here are the first couple of things I am planning on doing with the rest of my life. There are many more to follow...a 113 to be exact :). I am not sure how to explain how excited I am about this journey, I just want to post the whole list, get it over and done with so I can start crossing off items on the list...one by one...

I think Mary Oliver said it best...

"Tell me, what it is that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Keep you posted.

Rachel

xoxo

Almost time...

After this post...it is D-day. I need a little drumroll please...going to start sharing my list, and by extension a little bit of myself, after this post. Ok, part of it, anyway. After this there is no turning back. I’m kind of freaking out...but in a totally good way. Because the list is long (this might be a bit of an understatement), I have decided to introduce a couple of list items at a time. Because each item on the list has sometimes special/sometimes frivolous meaning, I want to spend some time explaining some of the reasons and motivation for including something in the list. This will hopefully help you on deciding what is important in your life, what you have always wanted to do, even something as insignificant as catching a firefly (#14). 

"Start living now. 

Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. 

Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God." 

-Mary Manin Morrissey

Before I start introducing my list to you, I have to thank two people without whom this would never have happened. Giving credit and appreciation where it is due is important. Ok, so you have already met the lovely Emma and her involvement in this whole endeavour was the topic of my previous post. 

Another person, let’s just call him Jake G., is one of my favourite people and best friends. Without his encouragement, none of this would even have happened. So, just to introduce you to this special person, a short description: music (he usually has a hand in the music in my *currently making me sing and dance* section -soon to be posted-), loveable, loyal, caring, kind and lastly, he would go to the ends of the earth for someone he loves, I know this from experience...and this is probably the best kind of friend any girl could ask for.

Without their encouragement, support, willing shoulders and ears, I would not be about to share a little piece of myself with you.

So with a little ado...ok, another drumroll please...the list to follow in the upcoming chats. Can’t wait!

Keep you posted.

Rachel

xoxo