A list?

I've been asked several times now if I have a list of things to do before I'm thirty. The answer is simple, if confusing. No.

I'm a list person. I've got lists of things to do, things I've done, things I have, lists, lists, lists. If there's a project that I'm working on, I break it down into a list of parts. There's something very satisfying about crossing off an item from a list.

So it's odd that I don't have a list of things to do before I turn thirty. I've considered it. There are still things I want to do in my life. The thing is, I don't want to rush it. I don't want to hop on a plane and spend a weekend in Paris just because it's on the list of things to do. I want to wait until the time is right, and then spend a month in Paris. Or a week in Paris, and a week in Rome, and a week wandering through Greece. I want a book published, but I want to take my time and make it as good as I can. NaNo is great for getting me started, but it's a process, and you can't rush creativity - at least, I can't. When the story is ready, when I've had enough time to subconsciously work out all the plot twists and everything that needs to happen, it flows, and it's good. When I force it... well, let's just say that none of my NaNovels have been published yet, and probably won't ever get published. I'd like to catch a fish, but I think that will wait until I have both the time and the patience to go fishing (it may be a few years!).

There are a lot of things on most people's lists that I have no interest in. I don't want to learn to SCUBA dive. I have no desire to jump out of a plane. Climbing Mt. Everest just doesn't do it for me. I've technically swum with sharks, and I don't really want to do it again. (It wasn't a bad experience, but it wasn't all that interesting, either.) I'm happy with the food I'm familiar with and I don't feel the need to eat all sorts of crazy stuff. Let's face it: I'm not all that adventurous. And I'm okay with that!

Also, my thirtieth birthday is in, like, three weeks, so I don't have a lot of time to get things done. ;)