Things To Do (some in another life or dimension)

by Jean Roberta


I would need another lifetime to do all the things I ever wanted to do in this one. This is why I really hope that reincarnation is not simply wishful thinking. 

I would have liked to give birth to a second child (possibly even a third), partly to see some of the variety of gene combinations that could come out of me, and partly to see how my kids would relate to each other. I would try my best to minimize sibling rivalry, though I’m not sure if mothers can banish that altogether.

In another life, I would have liked a career as a clothing designer. That was my dream as a teenage home-seamstress reading Vogue. (It would also be a way to honour a tradition. One of my great-grandmothers sewed costumes for Warner Brothers Studios in the 1920s.)

I would like to be fluent in three major world languages: French and Spanish, as well as English. This is something I might be able to do in what’s left of my current life. My Spanish-speaking spouse and I agree that fluency in those three would enable a person (or a couple) to get around in most countries on earth, thanks to a history of European colonialism. (It does make world travel easier for those of us who learned one of those languages at our mothers’ knees.)

Soldiering on in French would be a good prelude to reading Proust, not to mention Colette and assorted smutty classics.

I would like to visit Spain and Belgium with Spouse, to see where her ancestors came from. I would like to go back to the UK with her, to show her where my ancestors came from -- and to visit some of the UK writers I've met here in cyberspace.

Meanwhile, I really need to become more familiar with computer technology. This is more of a necessity than a dream.

Spouse and I have talked about the appeal of doing humanitarian work in crisis zones, though that seems more suited to those who are younger and fitter. Taking care of animals seems like a more reasonable goal, and we seriously plan to run a rescue shelter after retirement from our current jobs. (Samson the Computer Cat is sitting in front of me as I type this. I would like to see more domesticated animals as healthy and happy as he is.)

I would like to get back into amateur theatre, and play a major role in a Shakespeare play. (If I wait much longer, I will probably have to settle for playing one of the witches in Macbeth. That would be fun.)

I would like to do more drawing, and take up painting.

I would like to write several big, ambitious novels.

I would like to put more energy into good causes.

I would really, really like to attend the high school graduations of both my grandchildren, whom I’m currently not allowed to see. (The older one will turn 6 on September 5, 2013.) I would be willing to cross everything else off my bucket list for the chance to have a loving relationship with each of them before I die.