**it’s april 6 and i just realized that this is actually my 21st year…. lol!**
it’s march 19, 2020, and i’m officially…going home and being quarantined for the next two weeks! oh, and i’m 20.
(side note: please stay safe everyone!! this is such a crazy crazy time in the world right now, but try to take care of yourselves as best as you can. stay home and keep your communities safe, and check out xan’s post for some ways to maintain your sanity during this time!)
(another side note: the formatting of this post is not my favorite… wordpress really doesn’t like working with me but oh well!)
wow, i’ve officially been alive for two decades! at times i definitely still feel like a child haha, i still really don’t know how adulting works. but time inevitably passes, and every day is one day closer to graduation and then actual adult life AHHH. as i transition from my teenage years to my adult-ish years, here are 20 things i want to do in my 20th year!
1. learn to play one song decently well on the guitar – just one!! okay well ideally more than one, but we gotta start with baby steps hahaha. i always say i’ll practice guitar when i go home, but i never follow through (oops). this is the year i’ll make it happen!!
2. travel out of the country. i actually had a trip to israel planned for spring break, but unsurprisingly, it was cancelled. thankfully they’re still hoping to make it happen during summer break, so that’s exciting but also scary! i haven’t been out of the country since i was 7 (minus a cruise where we stopped in mexico for ONE day), so traveling internationally kinda terrifies me, but it’s definitely something i want to do again soon!
3. dye my hair a new color. this is pretty trivial haha but i’ve always wanted to have silver hair? at this point i’ve done various shades of pink and purple (please view selfies below – i feel very vain lol), so i feel it’s time to try something new!
4. properly marie kondo my life/room. i always start the process but never finish (do you see a pattern in my life?), but i am so ready to have a CLEAN room! i’m so over all the clutter and mess – i really don’t need all that in my life.
5. take a graphic design class (or another skill, pretty open to learning more!). i’ve been wanting to learn graphic design, and what better time to do it than now?
6. build a photography portfolio. over the past several months, i’ve been practicing a bit of photography, so i want to actually compile some of the pictures i’m really proud of! comment suggestions for an instagram username below pleaseeee
7. try soulcycle. i’m not sure when i’ll get a chance to do this, but it’s definitely on my bucket list!
8. write a short story. i used to be super into creative writing up until my junior year of high school, so it’s been about three years (this makes me kinda sad). i’ve been meaning to give writing another shot since it’s been so long!
9. see hamilton, preferably on broadway. i got into hamilton super super late (aka literally a year ago), but better late than never, right? i’ve been entering the lottery but no luck so far… a girl can dream :’)
10. stop supporting fast fashion. oof this is a very hard one haha, even though i really don’t think i have that many clothes, i know i have more than i need, so i want to do my part by choosing not to buy more clothes from fast fashion retailers like forever 21, american eagle, h&m, etc. this definitely won’t be easy, but i’ll do my best to shop secondhand or from more sustainable brands and recycle/donate/resell clothes i no longer need!
11. learn how to REST. over the past school year, i’ve been kinda doing a lot and not giving myself much time to unwind and relax, and it hasn’t been great for my physical/mental/emotional/spiritual health. sooo now i’m trying to figure out what kinds of things give me rest — genuine, restorative rest, not mindless or numbing distraction — because rest is so so important!
12. find peace with being single. this is something i’ve been kinda struggling with for a long time, especially in the past 2 years. intellectually, i KNOW that i am a whole and complete person even if i’m not in a romantic relationship!! but a big part of me still longs for that kind of intimate connection and searches for it in many different ways. so hopefully this is the year that i learn to be content with being single/alone!
13. learn to forgive and move on. recently i’ve realized that i’ve been holding on to some old relationships in my heart. i like to think that i’ve moved on because i don’t really think about them, and i live my life pretty normally. but whenever i do remember or talk about those memories and feelings, i feel transported back to my 18 year old self, with all the same hurt and anger and bitterness coming back up. i don’t know how, but this is a cycle that i want to break – i want to find peace for myself and for the people i can’t seem to let go of completely.
14. find a new hobby/passion. this is very relevant since most of us will be stuck at home for the foreseeable future! i want to find something that actually inspires me and brings me joy and fulfillment – right now i have no idea what that will be, but i’m excited to find out!
15. participate in homeless outreach, even if it’s just for a day. my church encourages us to take part in don’t walk by, an annual winter outreach where people are trained and then encouraged to go out and interact with people on the streets, offering them a meal or resources. this is something that i’ve been wanting to do for a while, but i think i’ve also been making excuses for myself… so i’m committing to volunteering with an organization like this at least once in the next year!
16. say no to things. i mentioned this as one of my goals at the beginning of the year, but i’ve been struggling with it. i definitely took on a bit too much this semester, so i guess it’s a bit of a blessing in disguise that i’m going home and a lot of my commitments are getting cancelled? going into next semester, i need to be more aware of what i actually have the energy/time/mental capacity to do. i want to be able to really enjoy my semester and not feel like i’m lowkey dying all the time, even if that means saying no to things i want to do.
17. see seventeen live?? hahaha i’m struggling a bit to think of these last few things, but seventeen is actually the last kpop artist on my list that i really want to see live. i feel like they won’t be touring in the next year since they just had their world tour, but fingers crossed!
18. take another dance class. i didn’t have space in my schedule this semester, but dance is honestly something that i really really enjoy, even if i’m not very great at it! i’m thinking of either continuing with modern dance or trying something new, we’ll see!
19. perfect an earl grey banana bread recipe. bibble and sip, a bakery in nyc, is the first place i ever encountered earl grey banana bread, and it was ABSOLUTELY delicious. i actually love making banana bread, so i’ve been meaning to recreate it! i gave it one try already and it didn’t really turn out the way i wanted, so this is definitely something i’ll be working on.
20. last but not least, take more risks. okay i know this last one is pretty vague, but it’s more of a general mindset i want to carry with me through this next year. rather than staying in my comfort zone, i want to keep pushing myself to trying new things and doing things that make me anxious, whether that’s asking strangers if i can take pictures of them or simply trying new foods! there’s so many opportunities out there, and i don’t want to hold myself back from making the most of them. i’m tired of letting fear or uncertainty stop me from doing things i actually want to do, so i’m resolving to put myself out there more this year!
there you have it – 20 things i’m going to try to do over the next year! it’s on the internet now, so i guess i have you all to hold me accountable and make sure i actually do (or at least TRY) these.
What a great list!!! Good luck with Hamilton. I haven’t gotten into it yet, but its on my list 😂 Also that picture of the dog turned out amazing!!! Kudos for having the courage to ask him <3 I hope it was worth it because I think the pic is perfect!
aw thank you!! good luck to you as well, haha! and it was very nerve-wracking but i think it was worth it as well :)))
What an awesome list! I totally agree with the last to take more risk. Life has so much to offer! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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