If you had one year...

I'm writing something right now that focuses on this premise: if you had just one year left, what would you do with it?

Would you travel the world?

Would you quit your job and spend the time with your family?

Would you go back to people you've known growing up and tell them all the things you always wanted to say?

There are about a million things you could do, so what would you choose to spend your time on?

The thought behind the story is - why are you waiting? Why are we working ourselves to death? (It's one thing if that job you're doing is fulfilling in a very big way vs. simply a job to pay the bills.) Why are we spending 80% of our time during the day on things that don't fulfill us or enrich our lives in the ways we'd like them to?

Then it takes those questions and the potential responses and shapes them into a human experience. Well, at least I hope.

I'm not sure what I'd do. Spend more time with family, definitely. Give out some apologies. Tell a few people they suck. But I think that mostly, I'd probably have conversations with people - real, honest, deep conversations about whatever we need to talk about. 

Which of course begs the question - why aren't I doing those things now?

One of the exercises we did in writing group was to think back to each decade of your life and recall your most perfect day. (Excluding big events like weddings, births, that kind of thing - think of the simple, memorable moments in that decade).

I thought of a few:

Dancing with my dance group in Europe when I was 14, with a clear view of the mountains in the background.

Getting asked to prom by my first love when I was 18.

Waking up to a rose after a day in Chicago at 20.

Gathering with friends at Navy Pier in my early 20s.

Seeing my husband become a father and hold his son for the first time.

The list goes on. Perfect days. Beautiful memories. What would be some of your perfect day memories?