42 Dreams

Last updated 17 April 2012.

A couple of years ago I started making a list of “things I wanted to do before I die”.  To focus on what is most important to me. What matters. In keeping this ever-changing list, I learned a lot about who I am and what kind of person I’d like to be. And sometimes the result was not all that.  But most of the time it was amazing, not because I fulfilled my dream, but because I got to share it with someone else. Over time one can accomplish so much more than one thinks. I’ve learned to think ‘how can I do it’ – instead of ‘this can’t be done’. Little baby steps. They do add up.

When I first watched the video above, it made a huge impression on me. I was working in a job because I was good at it. Because it made my parents proud. Because I earned good money. Because I thought that that’s what I should be doing. Society’s pressure or mine, who knows? But it never felt right. Rather ill-fitting in fact , but I kept at it, thinking I would grow into it.
Seeing Steve talk about following his curiosity, his intuition, doing the things you love and love what you do. It looks so simple now. 🙂
And yes, you can only connect the dots in hindsight. When I was young, I was always drawn to entertaining. Winning the playback contest, playing the piano, working with autistic teenagers, writing a play, performing poetry… All about connecting with people, trying to move them, channel emotions.
Living alone in Sydney, I turned to photography. And found something that stirred my soul again.
Connecting those dots, it makes sense that I get so much satisfaction from photographing people. To see and feel their beauty, to make an image and show them how beautiful they are. Especially when they have never seen/believed it themselves.

Play, stay hungry, stay foolish. Ask yourself, if today was your last day, what would you do? With only 1 day left, 1 month, 1 year, what are the things that matter? And are you doing those? Dare to dream, dare to fail. You have the advantage of being a beginner – you might get unexpected results even if you don’t fulfill your dream.  Please remember, this is NOT about getting things done, it is about knowing what matters to you.  It is NOT about doing things right, it is about enjoying the things you try. Make sure to pen it all down. Like I did here, or 43things.com can get you started.  You can keep it to yourself, but I’d say just share it, see what happens, you might even fulfill someone else’s dream while you’re at it.

So here’s mine

  1. See an active volcano and live to tell.
  2. Get a tattoo, design it myself.
  3. Surf the Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii.Obviously I listened too much to Beach Boys, I can’t even swim properly! I did visit the Pipeline, it was a crazy trip to the north shore with 2 friends in a convertible, good times.  And I did have some surf lessons when I moved to Sydney.  Think I need some more swimming lessons too.
  4. Milk a cow.
  5. See Aurora Borealis and/or Australis.
  6. Learn to dive. 
  7. Jump out of an airplane and live to tell.
  8. Jump of a cliff into thin air and live to tell.
  9. Stargaze in the desert alone. Bram and I did this outside our tent, when we visited Uluru and King’s Canyon. It’s a truly magical place. Would like to go back and off-track with a 4WD.
  10. Climb the roof of the world, Mt Everest – or at least to get to base camp. Not yet quite there. When traveling through Nepal, I did gaze at the Himalaya. And saw Mount Langtang (7246m) from up close at high-altitude, while panting for air. And in Hawaii we went to the summit of Mauna Kea (4205m). Also panting!
  11. Learn how to develop my own film.
  12. Bake my own bread (and eat it too).
  13. Holidays with my best friends. Italy, Crete, Barcelona, Ireland, New York, Miami, Australia, Bali,…always want more! As Bryan Adams would say “those were the best days of my life”
  14. Interview Warren Ellis and make a portrait of him.
  15. Visit musee Rodin in Paris.
  16. Sail Sydney Harbour I was really lucky to be invited by a friend to join him and his uncle on his yacht. Truly an amazing experience to go through Sydney heads and back again. You can read my blog entry here.
  17. 4WD roadtrip. We came close on Fraser Island as we drove on 75 mile beach, but doesn’t count yet as it was only 1 day.  Want more.
  18. Write a song.
  19. Find what I love doing most. Travel. Making connections. Photographing people.
  20. Make a living from what I love doing most
  21. Go back to drawing lessons. Learn more about light and shadows.
  22. Run city 2 surf. 14kilometers – including Heartbreak Hill. Called that way for a reason! 2012 is going to be the year I reckon 🙂
  23. Space flight to the Moon. I would choose Moon over Mars, as that is only one way still and you don’t have such a nice view on Earth.
  24. Have straight teeth. Waited until 2006. Hard and painful, but fulfilling. Is this corrective or cosmetic surgery?
  25. Live abroad for a year. Had to be a different climate than Belgium and obviously I had to speak the language. So I ended up on the opposite side of the world.
  26. Be a man for a day. Never say never. But for reasons I won’t go into here, this dream was more than I bargained for. This one’s more than fulfilled.
  27. Die in my sleep of (not too) old age. Preferably together with husband, holding hands.
  28. Open my own B&B.
  29. Drive Route 66 on a Harley D.
  30. Fly in a hot air balloon.
  31. Write a novel. A travelogue. Finding and falling in love with that missing part of yourself.
  32. Travel. Visit each continent at least once. Places currently topping the list are Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Portugal, Thailand, Russia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Cuba, Argentina, China,… In fact I could travel forever and ever and never settle down in one place. I don’t think gypsy or wanderlust are dirty words. But the world we created doesn’t make it easy for people with no fixed address.
  33. Learn more about storytelling with video.
  34. Learn true meditation.
  35. Assist photographers I admire. See up-close how they interact and connect with people and tell their stories.
  36. Finish Sydney Portraits. Before we leave this city.

    37.  

    Some daily dreams which don’t shape so much what I do, but rather how I do it…

  37. Think positive. Don’t let a day go by without a smile. Even when – especially when – all you want to do is cry.
  38. Be there when my family and friends need me.
  39. Live with the man I love and love the man I live with. I can live with every-changing dreams and daily turmoil. In fact, I love it. Routine is for boring people. Bram’s the exception. The one constant in my life. The island in my ocean. And I could go on and on 🙂
  40. Be grateful for what I have. Ever heard this cover by Jeff Buckley, ‘Satisfied Mind’? That’s what I’m talking about.
    [audio:http://bramandilse.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2-11-Satisfied-Mind.mp3|titles=Jeff Buckley – Satisfied Mind]
  41. Make someone else feel good about themselves.
  42. World Peace!!!

Why 42 you might ask? Oh,  just because.