Day 30...Bucket List...30 Day writing challenge.

"...And I really don't care if nobody else believes, I've still got a lot of fight left in me." -Rachel Platten, Fight Song.

My sissy Jo shared this song with me a few days ago, after her second round of chemo and I found that this song is so suitable for so many situations (especially hers). We often plan our lives when we're about ten, what we will be, who we will be, etc., but more often then not, life throws a hurdle in our way and dreams that we had as kids, suddenly become 'Bucket List' items. Dreams that we are now daring ourselves to accomplish, as if trying to trick our brain into doing the right thing for ourselves...achieving what we often deem to be the impossible.

My cousin Marie, is my inspiration for today's blog and appropriately enough, the last one of my 30 day challenge. Despite being younger, she is an inspiration to me, because she takes the reins in her life, makes no excuses for what happens in it, and does her best to balance what is important to her. She had a dream when she was fourteen years old and today, thirteen years later, that dream came true...she auditioned for American Idol. She did what many of us can't bring ourselves to do, face our nerves and make a check on a bucket list. She put it out to the world what she wanted and though it took some time for it to happen, it happened, so maybe patience is also the key to the Bucket List, that and believing in a thought.

My bucket list isn't too long, mostly being published and visiting countries with history and other things you might think silly. About two years ago I was tagged in one of those keep calm posts, it said, 'Keep Calm and move to London'. Needless to say, it made me giggle and then it made me think. It was sent to me by a friend who knows how much I want to travel abroad, but I have done nothing to spin this list into motion except dream and daydream about it, as for my cousin, she can say she scratched a very important item off of her list.

What is a bucket list? One part dream, one part action and two parts believing in what your heart is telling you. Life is scary, sure, but what fun is it if we play it safe? How many Bucket Lists go unchecked, or not even halfway fulfilled, because we hold ourselves back? If you can dream it, you can achieve it. There may be no telling how long it will take, but never lose heart, because as long as you are breathing, anything is possible.

Take the one thing on your Bucket List that you think you will never get to and put it at the top and make it a point to get it done.

My 30 days might be up, but writing is my passion and this is an outlet for me that I enjoy. I have learned so much over the last 30 days, like not quitting when you're so close, and not giving up, the key component in success. Find your path and do not stray from it. You might detour from time to time, because that is life, but when you can, get back on that path and continue your journey....

Until tomorrow....Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Clear your mind. Exhale. Truly see the beauty in the world and make your dreams happen, so you can check it off of your bucket list.

Sissy Jo....

Well, it goes without saying that the days leading up to Comic Con were anything but non-emotional. Is that even a word? Seriously, my mind lately. Sissy Jo, one of the three girls I call my soul sister, passed away on June 29th, her funeral was held two days before we left for Comic Con. Admittedly, this reminded me, as well, of mama being sick last year during Comic Con, so of course our 8th trip to the 'Con', was a little bluer than I think we had hoped, but we did manage to have a good time, because we know that is what Jo would have wanted. As we all know you can't make the pain just disappear, or the sadness that comes with losing someone so important and special to your life. As anyone could tell you, JoAnn was a force to be reckoned with, a little whirlwind of organization, love and smiles. She loved many who were in her path and she taught us lessons of survival, never giving up and fighting the good fight. I me...

From a personal journey to...

I have blogged off and on about a personal journey I have been on for about a year or so. It's nothing earth shattering for anyone but me. I hate to say it, but I kind of became a cliché. Indeed, I had become that person who needed to find themselves. One of my favorite quotes along the way came from Tolkien, "Not all those who wander are lost". It kind of contradicts my previous statement, well not kind of, it does, because I talk about finding myself, but truly, I knew where I was all the time. Are you confused yet? Think of it as standing outside of your body inside a hall of mirrors. Like a carnival there are images of you everywhere, but only one of those images are you. So you go about seeking the solid figure and along the way you hit dead ends, walls, other mirrors with images of yourself and so on, until you finally stop, breathe and realize if you look at the mirror in front of you, there you are. You stop trying so hard...

Day 8 of 30 days of gratitude.

Today I dedicate this blog to Sissy Jo. Today would have been JoJobean's 47th birthday and she lived every moment the best that she could. I am forever grateful that I spent her last night on earth with her. It was like old times when we had a lot of Sissy sleep-over's, watching "ghosty" shows, chatting, being sisters. That night she told me her dreams for me and what she was sure would be my reality for the future. What people didn't see was JoAnn's fight. When it was posted on Facebook that she had passed away, so many of my own family and friend's commented that they didn't even know she was still sick. In fact, she was on her way to do payroll when she collapsed, the afternoon she passed away. She had set-up a makeshift office at home, because her dedication to the work and people she cared about, never stopped. JoAnn was re-diagnosed in December 2008. She had been in remission for almost four years when breast cancer came ba...

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