End of 101 Things in 1,001 Days

A couple of days ago, I finished my first 101 Things in 1,001 Days. Like with many things, the last two-and-three-quarter years has seemed like a very long time and also hardly any time at all. My life has changed tremendously since it began, but I'll save that for another blog post.

I ended up finishing 35 things on the list -- approximately one-third. And that's even with reviewing the list every 6 months to take out things I was no longer interested in and adding in new ones. I'm trying not to see it as a dismal failure rate, but in just that it just reflects my personality as a person loves novelty and whose interests can change pretty quickly. I also have a feeling it probably says a lot about the lack of time and energy I have to devote to my hobbies. Perhaps the experience will give me motivation to look at the way I spend my spare time.

I always knew that I'd start a second 1,001 Days well before I finished the first one. I love the concept of (slightly!) longer term planning. Sometimes I want to plan further ahead than a year, but 5 years is a bit too long and daunting! A time period about half that length just seems right to me. I rolled over some of the things I'd completed and enjoyed from my last list. I also re-added others that I didn't complete, because I'm still interested in doing them. Others are new.


Here's the full list (there's also a tab at the top of my blog), and here are a couple of the highlights:

✦ finish KonMariing my house -- well, it's still not finished, even after 2.75 years ... a little outside of the 6 months that KonMari recommends! But I'm determined to finish one day.

✦ write a "reverse bucket list" -- as much as I hate the term bucket list, I think it's a good idea to remind myself of the things I've achieved so far in my life, big and small.

✦ hang all my art -- this was uncompleted from my last list, but it's important to me. Tara Leaver recommends hanging your own art in your studio to help inspire you, and it just makes sense to decorate the house with it instead of it sitting stacked up in a corner somewhere.

✦ watch 50 new movies -- I finished this one way early too, and now that we have Netflix, Husband and I watch a lot more movies. So I've increased it from 30 to 50.

✦ go to 15 art/craft exhibitions -- increased from 10 on the last list.

✦ create a gluten-free flour mix for bread -- I've been meaning to do this for a while. Gluten-free flour mixes are available from my local supermarkets, but they're expensive and only come in small packages. I want to experiment with different blends until I can make the perfect bread. (And perhaps pizza dough, cakes and biscuits too!) Since I've been unable to eat gluten, I've baked a lot less and I've missed it. This item will be a great excuse to take it up again.

✦ have a Harry Potter themed feast -- because who wouldn't want to do that?

✦ write 30 reviews on my blogs -- this item was a lot of fun, and I finished it about a year early last time, so I've increased it from 20 to 30.

✦ read A Christmas Carol every Christmas -- I had this on my list to do once, and I loved it so much that I've decided to do it every year. The message of goodwill and generosity in the book is so wonderful that I want to remind myself of it regularly.

✦ learn 5 songs on ocarina -- I didn't have any music-related items on my old list, as I only took up playing the ocarina late last year. I've been sadly slack with my practice and would really like some motivation to do it more regularly.