the future

what do i want?

i want to live in vibrant cities when i'm young. i want to be engaged, stimulated, passionate and surround myself with similar people. i want my life to be noisy and full...too full...to run around frantic because i have the energy and because i can. to dance, to question, to idealize, too much wine, to have my face in the sun. i want to experience the days, actively, and the nights actively too. i want to be young.

i want to travel. i want to see as many parts of this beautiful world as i can: south africa, india, thailand, all of south america. i want to taste, feel, see as much as my senses can take in. the thought that this world has so much beauty and diversity to offer is overwhelming, and one of my biggest fears is complacency. that i will get too comfortable and miss out on so much.

i want to fall in love.

i want to raise a family, live on a lake, take vacations, laugh a lot, have a partner. i want a home filled with music. weekdays busy with a job that contributes and matters and that i enjoy, and evenings i enjoy even more. to worry that i'm turning into my mother. date nights. watching the seasons change. saturdays with sporting events, sundays with the newspaper.

then, i want to live somewhere beautiful and calm. somewhere overlooking peaceful scenery, with a front porch, and rocking chairs, and a lot of James Taylor playing on the radio. to tune out politics and to let my heart rest in the work i've done. to no longer be striving; to feel content. to ride bikes with my husband. to sit and look back on life with minimal regrets and few unmet desires.

as a 22 year old, this is what a successful, full, happy, blissful life looks like.