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20 Things To Do In 2010

posted 24th January 2010    Written by: Molly Mahar    CATEGORY: All Posts, Inspiration, Molly, Tips & Tools

Last week I talked about how I hate resolutions, but dig themes. Today, I want to share the other piece that my New Year’s planning involved: 20 Things To Do in 2010.

My awesome sister came up with the idea and the format of organizing the list came from Andria, one of the gals in Club ReFresh.  We decided our lists needed to be manageable, but still inspiring- pushing us a bit out of our comfort zone, while allowing us to totally make it happen!

The items are organized around some of my core values- the values I want my life to express.  It was the best way to make sure I was taking a holistic (as in whole) view of my life as I created action items.

My challenge to you?  Create your own list!  It’s not too late!

20 Things To Do in 2010

Be Loving

Be Authentic

Be Abundant

Be Connected

Be Adventurous

Be Creative

A fun, fulfilling year lies ahead as I accomplish my entire list!  Several of the activities will also cross items off my entire Life List. Woo Hoo!

How am I going to make sure it happens? I’m printing out the list and putting it on my fridge, writing them in my journal, and adding the items to my Joy Plan.

Even better?  Post somewhere that others will see and ask you about your progress!  Wall of your cubicle?  Facebook page?  Personal blog?  DO IT.

Obviously, I’m declaring them here.  To you, the grand old intraweb.

Next step?  Map it out. Grab your calendar and figure out when you’re going to make it all happen!

I have several trips/specific activities that I need to schedule in or I’ll run out of time.  I’m currently booking my items in my calendar and taking all the necessary steps to get there (register, plane tickets, saving money, etc).

I’m making it real because I am a woman of action. I jump in!  I live life!

How ’bout you?

photo credit : kharied

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Following Through With A Dream

posted 21st January 2010    Written by: Marisa    CATEGORY: All Posts, Marisa, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 1

Do you remember that time in your early pre-teens where you were told to make a decision of either participating in Orchestra or Band? I remember it well. I was torn between wanting to be in the field while frantically banging on drums while my parents wanted to hear me play the violin indoors with symphonies and classical themes.

The Parental influence won in the end.

And during those painful/awkward years as a pre-teen and teen, I ended playing the violin for almost 6 years. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would at that age, but still… That nagging push I had inside of me told me I was meant to play the drums. And I’ve finally listened to it, almost 14 years later.

I thought it appropriate to write about music for this entry as the time passes with these last couple of QLC entries. I have a lot of things coming up that I’m involved with locally and even nationally so I feel the need to purge with words.

I never thought I would be this heavily involved within a scene and it’s not necessarily negative or bad persay, it’s just sometimes it gets overwhelming.

There’s a female drumming event this week put on by a NYC magazine and I was lucky enough to be involved with partaking in the planning and benefit; it’s a great direction for this city since I personally don’t think enough attention is paid to female musicians. I’m still taking weekly lessons, still on the pursuit of a drum kit and still wanting to make music. In fact, during my lunch breaks, I’ve been writing beats (simple beats, yes) but nonetheless, it’s music.

Who what have thunk it? Me, Marisa, writing some music and pairing it with my friend Anna’s music.

I’m determined to make it ALL work. There’s something frightening and yet exciting about following the path you want. I made that promise to myself last April, and as I’m quickly coming upon that anniversary-I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.

Not only has life been busy with drumming, but being involved with an indie music label has been a wonderous and ridiculous experience in itself. I was able to finally see some of the fruits of my labor when one of the Bay area signed groups was featured in Filter Magazine as the first “Undiscovered” discovered band of 2010 for Filter.

And, (I’m trying to contain the exclamation marks), but KEXP has contacted us  about some exciting things that I can’t yet confirm, but it’s exciting!!!!!!

So what’s the lesson here as I wind down with all of my thoughts?

I’ve learned in the past nine months that once you find your niche, your passion or your interest, don’t let it go. Don’t ever let it go; you can let it wean a bit, maybe put it on the back burner if need be, but don’t let it go.

You never know what’s around the corner. This may be really corny of me to say (it’s totally true BTW) but with positivity, determination and heart, you can make it work.

photo credit : dennis_vu

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Note to My 18-Year-Old Self

posted 20th January 2010    Written by: Andrea    CATEGORY: All Posts, Andrea, Season 1, What I've Learned

Looking back, I feel like I have been about 20 different versions of myself over the past 7 years. It’s hard to know whether or not I will become another 20 different version in the coming 7 years….

I hope not.

I would like to think that maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to figure out this thing called life and have less anxiety and fear. Someday, I hope to wake up and say “I’m not living a Quarter Life Crisis anymore!”

Um, that day is not going to be tomorrow or the next day, but, it’s a goal nonetheless.

I’ve learned a lot in the past 7 years, hell I have learned a lot about myself in the past 6 months! It’s made much of my past clear and gives me hope for the future.

If I had kept a journal of all the things I learned, I would be able to tell 18-year-old girls some of those amazing life lessons. I think though, that part of living 18-25 is making mistakes and learning from them on your own.

That’s why its called LIFE- right? Your time to learn through living and being.

However, if I were to look back on my 18-year-old self, I would give the following personal advice:

What would you write to your 18-year-old self?  What valuable lessons have you learned over the past 5 or so years of your life that you wish you could go back and tell yourself?

P.S.- My best friend I look exactly the same today and for that we are super proud!!

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The Comparison Game

posted 19th January 2010    Written by: Kendra    CATEGORY: All Posts, Kendra, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 1

A friend sent me a link the other day to a book that a college classmate is having published this spring. My friend stumbled upon this nugget of information in a bit of classmate stalking.

“So and so is a published writer now”, my friend wrote to me with a mixture of jealousy and derision.

Inside a part of me sang.

I can’t deny that sometimes when I take a step backwards and look at the expanse of my life which is long on memories but short on stuff, I’m left wondering if I’ve done the right thing. When I end up at yet another perfectly decorated housewarming, or at a party of someone in a part of town that I couldn’t afford to rent a toilet never mind own an apartment, it’s hard to remember that I’ve climbed to the top of a volcano, gone body surfing in Biarritz, rang in the New Year in Dublin.

It’s much easier to remember that I’m thirty (yep my birthday was last week), unemployed, single, living at home, with just enough possessions to fill the back of my dad’s SUV.

I don’t even own a car.

I wonder if I shouldn’t have used my twenties to ramble, to ping pong, and flit and instead used it to plod the path that society said I should have taken. The path that at 24 I felt was soul crushing, but now staring down at thirty and longing for security, stability and companionship seems comforting in its own way. The path, in other words, that a lot of my friends and acquaintances have taken, to when I take a step back and assess objectively, to mixed results.

It’s hard not to get caught up in the comparison game; no matter how relatively successful society deems you. And the vague sense of unease and jealousy espoused by my friend, who by many measure’s of society is successful, in the shadow of our classmates accomplishments made me feel better about myself.

Not because, as Calvin and Hobbes so succinctly put it that nothing helps a bad mood so much than spreading it around, but because his jealousy helped remind me that in the comparison game nobody wins.

At a party a few weeks ago I was talking to a guy who expressed jealousy at how much I’d traveled. I was totally jealous that he had a job. The funny thing is, finances aside we were in much the same situation: afloat. His Investment Banking job was poised to end, making business school his only possible option, and his long-term relationship which had been headed towards marriage derailed leaving him totally single.

I guess the truth is there is no such thing as the safe path, the guaranteed path.  There is merely our path, and we can walk it with strength or with trepidation and fear but we will have to walk it nonetheless.

We may as well have a good time while we’re doing it.

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Shutting Off Your Brain

posted 18th January 2010    Written by: Robyn    CATEGORY: All Posts, Life Lesson, Robyn, Season 1

One of my last stops in Costa Rica was a small coastal town called Dominical. I spent a couple days there hiking on the beach and playing in the ocean like I was five years old.

I was having so much fun playing in the huge waves that I decided to take a surfing lesson. I had tried surfing a couple years ago during my travels in Australia, but I had only managed to stand up a couple times then and hadn’t impressed myself too much.

Still, the feeling of catching my first wave was with me, and I wanted to have that feeling again.

This time I took my lesson early in the morning with a guy named Bob, who had recently retired from a long career in pro surfing. I immediately liked his teaching style and was especially intrigued when he told me that the secret to being a good surfer is shutting off your brain.

“No thinking allowed–it’s all instinct and really feeling the ocean and the wave as you ride into shore,” he explained to me.

Once I was situated in the ocean with my board attached to my ankle, I shut off my brain. Bob told me that the waves and the rip tide were especially strong at the moment but that I should be able to stand up as long as I went after each wave with the right attitude.

“Once you pick your wave, you must go for it. Choose it and make it yours and then take it. Never turn back  or hesitate,” he said.

I watched each wave roll in and found the one I wanted. I climbed on my board and laid on my stomach. Bob helped me get centered, and once the wave was almost behind me… I started paddling like crazy.

I shut off my brain.

I felt the wave moving under my board. I took two more long strokes with my arms and popped up. I rode the wave until I hit shallow water. Just like that. Thrilling!

Of course there were plenty of wipe outs and failed attempts after that, but there were at least 15-20 other waves I caught.  Bob actually let me keep the board for an hour after my lesson. I stayed out in the ocean catching waves all by myself until I was too sunburned, thirsty, and sore to continue.

It felt great!

Just as I did during my surfing lesson, I managed to turn off my brain many times during the rest of my travels, and it felt good not to think for once. I didn’t worry about my lack of work back home. I didn’t worry about bills or finances. I didn’t even worry about that great “life plan” I’ve been attempting to organize for the past few months. I just enjoyed the moment and concentrated on what was right in front of me–flawless ocean, endless beach, and perfect streaks of sunlight.

Currently, I am on a flight back to Chicago. Even now, after all I’ve learned, I find that my brain is completely turned on and clouded with the many things on my list of things to do upon my return to the “real world.” Urgh.

This reminds me of how important it is to take a break from your routine sometimes–just to make sure you are living life right, just to give yourself a chance to recharge and find new inspirations. This trip was definitely a gift to myself, and I have taken something from it that I hope to apply to my life in Chicago.

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