Alphabet Soup - D is for Done That!

Recently, I was comparing Life Lists with a very lovely friend (who inspired me to write mine in the first place), and I began to realize how many brave, adventurous, and unique experiences I have already had. A lot of things to which I can say, "I've done that!" Yet, they happened in the past, and they didn't have a place in this list of the future. So, I thought I would honour them here. :) (hmm.. and perhaps I will create a special spot for them in the back of my Life List book...) Away we go:

I was on Romper Room when I was a wee lass (I can remember wearing full on winter tights even in the middle of summer because they were filming ahead). My first career after high school was in the film industry. I started out, briefly, as a background performer and then quickly worked my way up the ladder and through the ranks of the Assistant Director department, and amassed some very interesting stories. My three favourite actors to work with were Craig T Nelson, Chow Yun-Fat, and Gerard Butler (who tried to convince me that I would be better off with him than my fiance at the time... wish I'd listened ;)

I have seen the sites of London, and experienced a pub crawl in Northern England. I have ridden the Tube in London, and the subway in New York City. I have the obligatory pictures of me in Times Square in New York and at Pike's Place Market in Seattle. I inadvertently mocked a police officer's accent in Harvard Yard. (I was just repeating back his directions, and I really thought he was telling me to take a left on "Godden" street... which I didn't remember seeing on the map...).

I observed and absorbed the scars of destruction and the re-birth in Berlin. (Ironically, right around the time that Iraq was being invaded). I have amazing photographs from the remaining length of the Berlin Wall and the area around Checkpoint Charlie.

I lived for a month in Bolivia. It is such a unique country - geographically stunning, fiercely protective of their culture, and so devastatingly poor in many areas (and yet so much simplistic happiness). I can say that I have traveled to the world's highest lake - Titicaca ;) - and biked down the world's most dangerous road!

I've been paragliding - in a massive field, pulled up by an atv and a 50 ft rope, which you have to release yourself once you're up! I've been dog sledding in Northern Ontario, which was an exhilarating experience I would love to have again. I completed a 5 or 6 day canoe/portage trip through the untouched beauty of the lakes and rivers of Algonquin Park - one canoe, two people, two packs. We even passed (quite closely) a moose grazing in one of the streams we ventured down. I have seen gray whales, and orcas on more than one occasion, in their natural waters.

I have stood on the glass floor in the CN tower. I've skated on the Rideau Canal, and I've seen the red sands of Prince Edward Island (ooh, and weathered the tail end of a hurricane in a tent. I think I slept through it actually... oh to be able to sleep like that again...). I stood in the Mississippi River, in Minnesota. I moved across this country to live where my heart wanted, and started completely fresh and completely on my own.

I haven't just seen the Golden Gate Bridge, or just driven on it, I have run across it, on the actual road bed, and back, during my first marathon. Yep, I can say that I have finished a full length marathon.

Most recently, I've been learning to paint, and I've been learning how to make pottery on a wheel. When I share this with people, they often remark that they've always wanted to do that - one day, especially pottery. Because of both I have, finally, experienced Flow. Which is what we've been asked to reflect on for reverb today. That moment when you become completely immersed in what you're doing, and the plug is pulled on the words and language part of your brain. When your mind is simply a part of your body. Every time I put my hands on the clay, or pick up a paint brush or sketch pad, everything else just falls away. I remember reading about Flow in a psychology class and, sadly, being completely stumped in remembering a moment when I had experienced this. Now I can! I've Done That!

Which brings us to the end of the list, and Wow! what a list! While 2010 itself has been a pretty quiet year, I am now reminded that it brought me my creativity, and the ability to be present, and both are gifts. And this reflection just now has re-energized me, and I am excited about more adventures to come, when it's time. There's no rush, because I know that I have already done some pretty amazing things, regardless of how long ago that was. Thank you again Rita, for the inspiration, and thank you Emily for reminding me about Flow, because it is something that no longer eludes me :)

reverb prompt 12

Body integration. This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body?

Did you have a moment where there wasn't mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?