5 lives, cont'd.

Continuing from the previous post... I did give the '5 imaginary lives' exercise some thought when I went to bed. And I struggled a bit to come up with the list...then I realized why. I was mixing it up in my head with Andrea's Mondo Beyondo list. I've already got that list going. The 5 imaginary lives don't have to be 'wildest dreams'--they're meant to be 5 lives that you'd be living right now if you could. At least that's how I interpret the exercise. "If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them?"

Hmmm, no wonder I was struggling a bit. I was trying to think of things that are a bit far-fetched. Truthfully, the five that first came to mind don't seem outlandish, so I guess I was sort of poo-poo'ing them.

If I could lead 5 parallel lives right now, here's what I'd be doing:
1. writer
2. photographer
3. producer and/or publisher (They utilize similar skills.)
4. coffee house owner
5. traveler

Those are honestly things that I think about doing all the time.

A year ago, before we knew we'd be relocating so soon to the mainland, Jeffrey and I talked often of owning a coffee house. We have some architecture software (heh, surprised you with that one, didn't I?)...he was really into playing around with it when we first got it. He encouraged me to, too, but I thought it was too 'complicated.' Then one day while he was at work or playing golf or at a gig, I started to fiddle around in it with some trepidation...and discovered I really liked dinking around in it. And I'd tinker around with a coffee house design. Don't reach--I don't dream of designing things, that's not where my aptitude and passion lies. Truly. I just liked visualizing having a place to call our own. But then...I'd realize what it means to be a small business owner (because my parents have had a couple of them) and how you're really tied to the business. And when I think about that dream now, it doesn't hold the same appeal for me. I think what I want more is just to hang out in coffee houses (because I missed out on that during those 5 years in the islands) and maybe stage events at them. THAT's what that's really about. So maybe #4 needs to be reworked.

The second part of the exercise is to incorporate some element from one of those 5 lives into my present life. I'll have to work on that part a bit later...because now I'm running late for work. :)