"to live is the rarest thing in the world. most people exist, that is all"

oscar wilde, you say it well.

at work today i realized upon telling my first patient the date (sept 20 for those who are still wondering) that today is my half birthday.
in six short months i will be 21. 21! sure at 18 i was deemed a legal adult, at 19 i endured the awkward "teen but not really", and at 20 i added the first zero, but i still feel like a person really exits childhood at 21. you're really a big kid now. no ifs, ands, or buts.

as my patient left and i was left to my own thoughts, my mind went reeling into what i want the next six months to be. it seems that fall always brings a lot of reflection, especially when every person you meet wants to know your how, what, when, where, and why of your life and the past summer. my summer was great- the first half of my twentieth year has been spectacular, but when i try to think about things that have really made an impact or that i can truthfully deem important, i come up a little bit short.

that is all about to change. it has to. i mean, i spent the next couple hours wracking my brain on ways to make it memorable and worthwhile, so it better be! as i thought about what i could do i thought about a list of things joy the baker posted back in the spring entitled "thirty things before i turn thirty". i remembered thinking it was a pretty genius idea... something i would have to do upon arriving at the top of that hill. then it dawned on me that i didn't need to wait til i was thirty to make such a list- i could do 21 before 21. and so i did.

and i can hardly read my own handwriting. here's the official list.

twentyone things:

learn to make one loaf of bread by hand.

memorize two meaningful poems.

read three substantial books.

bake and deliver food to four people i don't know.

try five new restaurants.

leave six quarters on the sidewalk for people to find.

be completely vegan for seven days.

watercolor. make into thank you cards and send to eight nearest and dearest.

make nine new friends.

overtip a waitress ten dollars.

learn to make donuts. give away eleven. use that can of coconut cream somehow.

learn to make jam. smother it on freshly baked bread. eat for twelve days.

practice yoga nightly for thirteen consecutive days.

watch fourteen sunrises/sunsets.

bike fifteen miles.

travel to one new place. shoot sixteen videos of the experience.

read the entire book of mormon en español seventeen minutes a day.

leave eighteen meaningful quotes, words on encouragement, praise on cars, sidewalks, doors, elevators.

give somebody nineteen extra minutes on their parking meter.

compliment twenty strangers.

make a list of twenty one good quotes to carry with me.

list, its on!