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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I Wonder What Would Be On Yours

I have this bestie named Lynnette (two n's and two t's please) who I've known for almost ten years since we first met in seminary, unsure of our surroundings in waco as women in ministry and damn sure no men were going to intimidate us out of there.

when i wrote her to tell her that i had quit my job, she wrote me the following email...

"i see that according to FB you 'cannot believe [your]self.' i'm guessing this refers to your quitting your job. i just wanted to say that my hope for you is that you are embarking upon the beginning (or the discovery) of a mondo beyondo dream. for years i've been following this artist/writer/creative-type/soul-worker person named jen lemen. i think i secretly want to be her. or maybe just to approach life a little more like her. she's been writing a lot of stuff lately, well for years actually, about following your heart. she and a friend of hers created this concept a while back about mondo beyondo dreams. see here and here:

i want to make such a list. and then to live into it somehow.

i wonder what would be on yours."


Well, I began to wonder too and so made my own Mondo Beyondo list for myself because, why not? Right now I'm exploring who I want to be and what I want to do and how to accomplish the dreams I haven't quite realized. And because Lynnette is amazing and always knows just what to say and how to inspire me to live life to the fullest, I thought I would share this idea with you in case you could use some inspiration of your own. Some of my mondo beyondo dreams have been on my undocumented list for a long time now. People used to ask me what I wanted to do when I graduated seminary to which I responded, "Preach and be a lounge singer." Those are both on this list. Maybe it's time to cross them and some other things off.

1. Play Eva Perone, Eponine and Sally Bowles in productions of Evita, Les Mis and Cabaret respectively
2. Sing lead in a band (I even have our "name" picked out) that covers love songs and performs some originals
3. Record a meaningful CD of creative, lovely music that changes people
4. Take singing lessons from a professional Broadway-trained singer
5. Learn how to Lindy-hop
6. Take a ballet dance class
7. Be a lounge singer (at least for a night) and wear a long black dress when I sing (preferably one that sparkles)
8. Foster parent
9. Adopt a child
10. Have a swimming pool in my back yard
11. Drive a vespa and wear a helmet I designed myself
12. Write a book
13. Visit New Zealand
14. Be a professional preacher or public speaker
15. Teach at a University or College
16. Return to Paris (I was there once for only 24 hours)
17. Visit the grand canyon and breathe a little more broadly
18. Fall in love... again
19. Participate in a dance competition
20. Preach at my alma mater (William Jewell College)
21. Record a children's cd of lullabies and children's songs
22. Read books to children at a library
23. Wear a real diamond nose ring
24. Visit my girls in Temuco, Chile again
25. Catch up on all my scrapbooking and the scrapbooking I've wanted to do for others over the years
26. Renovate the house on the farm in Minnesota so that it is livable, and write a book there on the land and in the house
27. Make enough money to give a lot of it away and make a real dent of a difference in someone's life
28. Sing in an opera
29. Go camping with a boy i love
30. Own a pet turtle

And while we're making lists and exposing our hopes on the world wide web, what's one of yours?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

But what will you choose?

(Try to read that like Roger doing one of his slow, loud-whisper, lean-over-the podium maneuvers to drive home a point.)

Michelle said...

My Mondo Beyondo List:
(in no particular order)
1. Live on some land in a little cottage, working for myself and my family
2. Visit New Zealand, Italy (again) and most of North America that I haven't been to yet
3. Have another baby
4. Make yoga a daily practice
5. Make exercise a more regular practice
6. Run a marathon
7. Do a triathlon
8. Have family/friend camping trips more often
9. Live more sustainably
10. Have a backyard with a garden, hammock and chickens
11. Be more responsible
12. Clean more
13. Worry less
14. Live in the mountains


I am sure there are more things I could list but I am running out of time.

Emily Jane said...

ann I think you can do a lot of things on your list, however if you renovate the farm..... Don't lay a finger on the tether ball pole!!!!!

Emily Jane said...

My Mondo Beyondo List:
1) star on a soap - preferably "Passions" but since it is no longer "Days of our Lives" would do
2) have a swimming pool in my back yard
3) Teach in the Education Department at William Jewell
4) Pay back my parents and grandparents for all the money they have given me over the years
5) Visit Italy and drink good wine
6) Become an interior designer on HGTV
7) Buy less shoes, and buy more shoes for people who actually need them
8) Live on a big piece of land with a good view where I can sit on my porch with a diet coke and enjoy some peace and quiet and actually be able to relax the right way
9) Go on a family vacation with my whole family since the last one I had was in 1990 (???)
9) Get married
10) Have a baby
11) Get my masters to become a school psychologist
12) Have my family all live in the same state
13) Go to the gym more, and sit on the couch less
14) Be a CCD for Delta Zeta at Billy Jewell

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Katy said...

Ann- it's been over a decade since i've seen you, but i just had to tell you that i LOVE your blog...i remember a wonderful slumber at your house when we were...what 10 or 11 and thinking how you were the coolest person i'd ever met...you're still on that list! i ran into your mom the other day...she's on the list too. :) enjoy your journey!