Yin-Yang, Do-Try

I love bucket lists.  They force a person to step back a second and ask herself, "What do I really care about?"

I'm an innate dramatic person, so I play around with the you-have-six-months-to-live scenario more than a normal person probably does.  And Kelsey Rose and I have our short-term bucket-lists (theirheadsintheclouds.blogspot.com).  But this question's a pinch different, by dividing life up into those three segments, I've gotta figure out what I want out of that time, and roll from there.

Good thing a super pensive song called Dirty Rain came on my Americana station on Pandora (the most well-cultivated station I have). 

The defining characteristic of High-School-Macy is this: high-powered.  While I don't actually like that as a primary human descriptor, it reflects well the opportunities, networking, and passion that have all converged into the perfect storm for me here in the next coupla years.  Take, for example, tonight.  I am JAZZED.  I had so little homework that I got to spend my night working diligently on Y-Club/other self-selected projects, and I have more energy than I've had all week.  During KYA week, I slept about 5 hours a night, but I burst energy.  I love what I do, so I plan to capitalize on high school as my "doing" period.  Fittingly, my #1 high school bucket list item is all about that doing.  I want to get 750 hours of community service during junior and senior years.

And I think that's an interesting transition into my vision for college.  Because I despise Service "HOURS."  Putting in time at a non-profit does not truly represent a servant lifestyle.  My britches get all in a knot (maybe too much Americana) when I think about people who spend 100 hours at God's Pantry without realizing that conscious interactions with those around you peg servant leadership more than their weekly scheduled activity ever could.  If high school's my "do" period, then college'll be my "try" period.  I want to open myself back up to new experiences without the pressure of performance.  I want to attend all the guest lectures, serve on an insane number of boards, learn as much as I can about as many different things, and BE THE CHANGE I SEEK.  So, #1 on my college bucket list is to be vegan for 1 year.  No animal products, no processed sugar.  Nada.  I'm already pescetarian, so I hope the transition will occur as smoothly as possible. 

I suppose by somehow directing my educational periods down those two avenues, I hope to achieve some sort of adulthood happy-medium.  The perfect zen between do-try.  I want to be radical.  That crazy hippie mixed with the conservative church mom.  The surgeon who isn't afriad to go without a bed, a meal, or a shower.  Represetative of that time in my life, I want to hike the entire Appalachian Trail.  All 2,000+ miles of it.  It should take about 6 months.  And those would be some of the best 6 months I'll've ever spent.

I shocked myself just now when coming up with these ideas.  On each of the items, I caught myself thinking, "Be realistic."  But here's what I say to that, I AM being realistic.  I define what is real, what is true, what is possible in my life.  By being "realistic" now, I set myself up for mediocrity.  I must dream big, define who I want to be and what I want to do with all the passion, all the zeal, all the tenacity I can must.  And then follow through with the determination that innately lives within each of us.  The success of your life is directly proportional to the scope of your dreams.