The List II

Okay… this may be shameless publicity, but whatever, who cares (though obviously me, to some degree, or I wouldn’t have brought it up at all).

I love The List II.  It’s not only the other blog that I contribute to, it’s also an amazing undertaking.

First though, some backstory:

On Wednesday, February 25, 2004, The List began.  The List was a compilation of 365 things to do in one year, and ideas came from a variety of sources.  To begin, it was going to be my friend Jen and I completing the challenges and keeping personal records of our experiences; our friend Stephanie decided to join us.  It did not go so well.

According to my journal that year, I made it to September 26th, and completed 107 items.  Since then, I’ve completed 80 more of them.  And rereading it just now, man, it was a good list.

It had creative items (#309 – make a collage), social items (#247 – plan a day with your parents) and spontaneous items (#11 – fall on purpose – things must be thrown or strewn).  There were items to help us grow spiritually (#281 – take a risk in faith), emotionally (#77 – take a day of solitude), and intellectually (#238 – research a place or time that fascinates you).  Items to help us grow closer to nature (#155 – climb a tree), items that challenged us physically (#75 – take the stairs), and items to connect us with our inner children (#177 – blow bubbles).  There were those that challenged us to take action (#145 – donate your pants to charity), those that just plain challenged us (#307 – admit you’re wrong), and those that perhaps we shouldn’t have done (#151 – eat a live bug).

There are a lot of items that I’d still like to do from the original list (read: at least 100), and a few of them made their way onto The List II… Oh yes, right, The List II.

The List II has 6 participants across the globe.  We’re in China, Germany, the United States and Canada (British Columbia and Alberta).  It was entirely set up using Google Docs and then Google Wave (hurray for the future!), and we’ve limited the project to 27 challenges in 1.5 months.  A wee bit more realistic than last time, but also more fun, due to our use of a blog to catalogue and share our trials.

It has been so encouraging to read what the other women are doing, and to be honest, the competitor in me keeps doing challenges just so that I don’t get too far behind everyone else.  Our collaboration has been beautiful, and it makes me feel more connected to these ladies, 4/5 of whom are close friends.  And that was one of the intentions behind The List II, so I guess we’re doing okay.

Anyhow, I’m loving The List II, and you should too.  Feel free to comment, challenge yourself, or just live vicariously through us.  In fact, do all three.

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