Friday, August 30, 2013

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.

4 comments:

  1. a beautiful, heartfelt post, Jean. thanks for posting.

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  2. You speak of age as an impediment to pursuing humanitarian causes, but researchers say languages are harder to learn the older we get. Assimilation is the best way to lern in depth. Of course, there are those for which languages come easy. Another vote for multiple intelligences. Our brains are geared unevenly among talents.

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  3. A worthy list, Jean. And not as impractical as you seem to think.

    (I'm happy to help with the computer stuff.)

    I've always had unrealized theatrical ambitions myself. Playing Mad Margaret in Ruddigore is my dream. But you know, years ago, I did play the role of one of MacBeth's witches, in Top Stoppard's "Dog's Hamlet, Cahoots MacBeth". My wildly frizzy hair fit the part to perfection.

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  4. Thanks for commenting, Amanda, Lisabet and Daddy X. this is my fourth attempt to respond - the computer keeps freezing or taking me to another site. I'll keep this brief. Someday I hope to be able to handle this sort of thing better!

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