Comfort-zone shakeup

Many years back, in another blogging life, I wrote a series of posts called "neverdones." I made a list of cool things I'd never done, and… Wellllll… OK, some of them were just plain weird or perhaps even boring and not really cool, but that's just splitting hairs. You know the ones -- those unruly grey hairs that keep birthing themselves out of my right temple.

Anyway.

Once a month, I'd do something I'd never done and then write about it. Posts included joining a gang of casual acquaintances (who are now great friends) for a night-caching romp through the mountains… visiting Biltmore… donating blood… rappelling… running my first 5K… being a volunteer coach for an awesome group of runners… getting a pedicure… driving a stick shift… and completing my first extreme geocache.

My neverdones, at first meant to just be fun and something to do, turned out to be a source of inspiration and courage and confidence and all sorts of other good-for-ya shenanigans. The things I did were not always monumental, but they were all new experiences. The practice kept me curious, open, humble, youthful.

And I'm white-knuckling that 'youthful' thing like it's the last breath of mountain-fresh air on our round blue planet.

Since the year I did my neverdones, I've kept up the practice of tackling new activities. I ran a 10K… began attending Buddhist meditation sessions… completed not one but two 6-week-long afterwork bootcamp courses… and raised my hand to volunteer with TEDxGreenville, a whompin' smart, creative, energized group of movers-n-shakers.

So I've kept it up, just not regularly. And I haven't continued writing about them.

To be clear, neverdones are not not not my bucket-list things-to-do-before-I-die items. They are simply tools to help me laugh and learn and grow. Nothing more. I don't have a bucket list, because there's nothing that I feel like I should do in order to have lived a fulfilled life. I'm good.

Hmmmm, interesting. My asides tonight have a slightly geriatric flavor. Subconscious angst, perhaps?

Soooo. Have you guessed it yet? Yep, I'm going to reinstate those grin-happy neverdones. I miss the adventures and the internal push they give me to stretch myself. First step is to make a list of ideas…….can you think of anything else?

get a tattoo go on a backpacking excursion camp overnight on the beach go on a cruise paint a mural do a mud run enter flight school play paintball go zorbing write a story based on family history video my mom telling stories do match.com visit Yellowstone go to a Mac conference stay in an ice hotel skydive visit Iceland plant a garden see the northern lights take a wine tasting class hop in the car and go on a long roadtrip -- no planning do 100 girly-knee pushups -- in a row, no stopping do 50 buff-boy pushups -- in a row, no stopping be a member of a TV show audience do Vegas see a live drag queen show visit an active volcano fly to the edge of space in a supersonic jet write my will attend a scifi convention experience zero gravity drive a race car -- fast go on a safari make a pilgrimage knit something naughty volunteer during a holiday take a fiction writing class see the redwood trees in California do a legal drug in Amsterdam build an elaborate sandcastle wax a body part pierce an unusual body part karaoke smoke a peace pipe enter a juried art show design my own apparel, then make it script & shoot a short movie earn a masters degree visit Stonehenge throw a dart on a map and travel where it lands make paper write a book visit the Grand Canyon ride in a hot air balloon attend a yoga/meditation weekend retreat ride an animal bigger than a horse attend Burning Man take a multi-day train trip visit the flagship Apple store in NYC drive the Pacific Coast Highway