How I did it: I put on my coat, gloves and wellington boots before I'd even eaten breakfast. I hung my camera about my neck and put some nuts and raisins in my pockets.Outside, the blue air smelt cold and clean. It smelt of snow, and of my childhood. It smelt of making a giant snowball with my brother when we were seven and nine.My snow man isn't really a man. More like a snow boy. He has a friend, Snow Girl. They are snow babies.It's funny, but if it … Read how I did it…
How I did it: Perched on my dining room table (like a three legged bird) is the telescope. My telescope! It stares blindly at the wall with its giant, cycloptic eye.I have wanted a telescope ever since Jon showed me his sister's. He pointed the white tube at the moon and I looked through the lens... I had never seen the moon that way before. I'd seen photographs, but they were nothing compared to seeing it with my own eyes. I had a real sense of the ea… Read how I did it…
How I did it: Because of how much I've written here, it might seem peculiar that I struggle with reading. In March, the thought crossed my mind that I’d like to read 12 books in 2011. It seemed incredibly ambitious and I didn't think I'd be able to do it. It is now just less than a year later, and I am on my 13th book.What truly helped me was to break this goal down and lower my expectations. I aimed to read five books instead of 12, and then when I ha… Read how I did it…
How I did it: When my friend moved to Scotland, we promised (as friends often do) to send letters. It would be fun and more "real" than Facebook or Hotmail. It was to her I wanted to send a message in a bottle.When the chili sauce was eaten, I saved the bottle. It was glass and the chili smell had absorbed right into it, like it contained the ghost of chilies. I tried to exorcise them with tap water, Fairy Liquid, and peppermint essential oil.The spiri… Read how I did it…
How I did it: My friend Steve travels from our city to another on a regular basis. When I told him about my predicament (that no one in my family could or would drive me down to Joe's), he immediately suggested I go down with him instead.I said YES.The entire trip hung from Steve's generosity.The train journey was not as bad as I expected at all: the city station is big and I was pushed in a wheelchair to the platform. Steve got his umbera out, and we … Read how I did it…
How I did it: You could write a narrative of your life through the story of your clothes.In short, I was sick of jeans. Jeans weren’t just part of my uniform; they represented how uniform my life had become. Because of illness, I've spent years within the same walls.So this goal was definitely not about fashion - it was about spice and variety. Like opening a window and trying the sky on.To scale big challenges is impressive, but it’s small, even seemi… Read how I did it…
How I did it: Holy crap, did I just mark this done?I have nearly deleted this goal several times over the last 19 months. It is vague (true), but that criticism was mostly an excuse to hide how I really felt: that it was impossible to even go one day treating myself like a guest.I imagined the moment of completion feeling like I have spent the day like Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, or being a Cat Steven's song.A combination of wearing tota… Read how I did it…
How I did it: This isn't just a how I did it entry, but a reminder to myself of the dreams I've carried with me throughout my life. There are so many things I could add to 43Things, but it wasn't until last week when I woke up from another fantasy about singing did I realise there have been a few constants: Making music Writing, and especially writing a book Dancing To learn another language Helping other people Being in nature. … Read how I did it…
How I did it: "Shameless" is included in the goal description for a reason: there is definitely a cringe factor that goes along with this challenge, but one worth pushing through.I started because I had become stuck in a rut. Every night for three months or more I would emotionally flog myself: I shouldn't be so sensitive, I shouldn't be so closed, I shouldn't be so open, I shouldn't be so serious, I shouldn't giggle so much, I should talk more, I shou… Read how I did it…
How I did it: I didn't think I'd be able to do this given how physical gardening is, but it's too much a part of me to quit. Even if you start very, very small and plant one line of seeds in a week - they will grow. Don't focus on the end result, focus on what you can do right now. It was hugely satisfying when the first sunflowers punched their way out of the soil - they grow so fast! You can literally watch one seedling transform in a day. Read how I did it…
How I did it: I am an introvert, and not only that: I am a daydreamy, lives-in-a-social-desert and gets-sucked-into-the-vortex-of-her-own-imagination introvert. My expectations for this goal were rather high (as always) and there is still room for improvement. By marking this goal "done" I do not consider it over: it is more of an acknowledgment that I have done it once and I can do it again.And again.And again.It is an effort wo… Read how I did it…
How I did it: Succulence means: to suck, or to have juice or sap. A succulent plant is a plant that sustains itself from the inside by storing energy in its leaves; a succulent person is someone who sucks the juice from every experience and who can sustain themselves during the dry season (of course, we all need it to rain eventually). When I was thinking about the word compassion, I had an “aha” moment. Compassion is relates to the idea of shar… Read how I did it…
How I did it: This isn't really one of those goals that other people will do, but I am proud of myself for spontaneously diving into this goal and achieving it.I was beginning to feel distressed with the high anxiety I'd been under for the past several weeks. I couldn't just be passive as it felt out of control, like a silent alarm or a bird panicking in my rib cage.Searched the 'net for "anxiety" and "low self-esteem" and found a lists of symptoms tha… Read how I did it…
How I did it: This had been a goal for years before I actually started doing it. I had my hook and yarn but was put off by how difficult I imagined it would be in the beginning. My mum showed me how to make granny square in my teens, but she didn't know how to make anything else and I was intimidated by the diagrams in the books I'd bought. Holding the hook, the yarn, getting your fingers in the right position, learning how to move your wrist just so..… Read how I did it…
How I did it: This picture is the "before" picture. Soon after it was taken, I got it cut to just above my waist.Years ago, my friend Monnie inspired me to grow my hair. She had the most amazing gets-stopped-in-the-street-so-people-can-compliment-her waist length hair. It was bright orange, like a copper flame.Fantastic. Everything that happened after that was all her fault. Read how I did it…
How I did it: As a child I always remembered my dreams, but as I grew up I've remembered them less and less. I couldn't start this journal without capturing at least one or two dreams so I asked my friends about theirs and began taking a few moments when I woke up to clear my head. I realised I'd remember nothing if I was in the habit of waking up and immediately taking my mind away and getting lost in thoughts. Taking time to be in the moment when I w… Read how I did it…
How I did it: I set myself this goal to do at New Year, but as it's creeping into April I told myself if I wasn't going to do it this week I never was.I wrote it while everyone was in bed and I was alone with just the lamplight to write with. It was a simple thing to do but feels very personal and I somehow feel closer to myself because of it. Read how I did it…
How I did it: The gods were against this goal from the start: first they made the printer incompatible with my laptop, then they made my dad's printer fail completely when I took a disc to his house with the files on it. Then they used up all the paper on my brother's chemistry project (okay, maybe that one wasn't their fault) and finally they decided they had a vendetta for all PDF files, especially those written by neurologists.Somehow tonight it all… Read how I did it…
How I did it: At first I tried to keep this goal on paper in a notebook. This didn't work because there was no one to make me accountable for keeping it going. I'd write the journal one day, slide it under my bed the next and forget about it. As soon as I started publishing my entries on the Internet, something clicked.I felt very self-conscious but I think that made my statements stronger. My affirmations became more sincere and when I deleted somethi… Read how I did it…
