The View From Here – What’s On Your List?

I just turned 50. On Sunday.  And it was great.  I was camping with my brother and his family and there were balloons, and ice cream cake and presents to go with the traditional deep fried turkey feast and all the fixins’.   By all I mean “some” because almost every year, every camping trip, we forget something or a lot of things.

It’s all good. It adds to the experience and we joke about the mishaps for years.

Do you think as we get older we get more adventurous?  Do you think we realize that life really is short, so the things we put off or were afraid to try, suddenly are more do-able?

Do you have a bucket list?  Do you have a list of things you want to do before your life is over?   I don’t. Not officially.  But I did something on Friday that I’ve been thinking about doing for a very long time.  And it was only because my husband gave me the nudge I needed, and actually booked the appointment that I went through with it.

I got a tattoo.  GASP.

Me.  I’m still surprised.  Just days before my birthday.  I got a tattoo.  And it’s beautiful and meaningful and I can’t stop staring at it.  I can’t believe it’s mine.  I can’t believe I went through with it.  I was the girl that sported the fake tattoos when I was a lot younger, “trying it on” to see if I liked it.  Trying to feel cool. (smile)

But I could never, ever go through with it.

When I hit 40, I started thinking about it again.  But never pulled the trigger. I knew if I ever did, it would have to be something meaningful to me and there could be ZERO doubts or hesitation.

This year, it came together and I KNEW without a doubt what I wanted.  I sent a few pictures off to the tattoo artist and the design she came up with was PERFECT. It’s like she knew my heart.  Three dragonflies, with the word Believe woven in between them.   Representing my family who I lost in a car accident over 31 years ago, and the word to remind me to believe in all the things that matter to me, including ME.

#badass?  Ha.   Not exactly, but big thanks to Elise at Neon Crab for helping me feel that way.  And for the amazing conversation about life as she “inked” me.  

Something I always wanted to do but was afraid to just “do it”.

It’s not like I just flew into space like William Shatner.  I would never want to.  Mostly because I’m afraid of things like flying, and heights, but to see his reaction when he came back to earth was AMAZING.

“What you have given me is the most profound experience… I am so filled with emotion at what just happened… I hope I never recover from this… I hope I maintain what I feel right now…. it’s so much larger than me and life”.

To me that just reaffirms that we have to do things that scare us.  Things that we are afraid of.  We need to try new experiences and live a little more fearlessly.

Maybe for some that’s a trip to space if given the chance.  Others a first tattoo.

What is your thing?  What is one thing you want to do in this lifetime?  Something that scares you a little, but your heart is saying ‘go for it’?

Maybe it’s time to check it off your list.

Email me anytime cbuchanan@blackburnmedia.ca

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan