What if the version of you as a child actually knew what would make you happy in life? Sofia Carson is starring in a new Netflix movie where, in order to get her inheritance, she has to complete a to-do list that she wrote when she was a teen. Not to spoil it for you, but completing these tasks helps her re-examine how she is living her life.
With how things seem to be in the world, I could see why this movie would be appealing. In the beginning, you see Alex Rose as a character who is going through the motions of living, doing things that she feels obligated to do. Either society has beaten it into us, or our perspective of being alive has been shaped by the hardness of the world. The natural feeling of chasing the simple happinesses of the world gets lost in the process of protecting ourselves from the hardships we face.
While I would say that I am pretty content with my life, finishing the movie did make me think about the child-version of me and whether she would be happy with where I’m at now. It was hard to reconnect with my inner child, because I think that I have consciously and unconsciously worked to try and hide those urges away where the light doesn’t shine. So while I was able to pull together this list today, I imagine that it isn’t full and complete to the little girl I once was, and maybe that’s okay. Maybe I’ll meet her again one day and ask her.
Design Something (Or Creatively Do Something Else)
When I was in middle school, I remember wanting to be an architect. I wanted to be someone who designed places that people would call home. I wanted these homes to be in a neighborhood where people acted like neighbors, the way the ladies in Desperate Housewives were all friends on Wisteria Lane. Maybe it was a desire of my heart to create this concept of home, but it led me to wanting to be an architect.
That dream died pretty quickly when I told someone and their response was, “But Kristi, that’s a man’s job.” So I never pursued it, and maybe I’m not at the point where I’m prepared to go back and actually pursue the career of an architect, but I think there is room to explore it in a smaller capacity. Maybe I can work on designing something, or building something small that will have a similar impact. I’ve always admired creative activities and been drawn to them, so maybe this is list item will lead me to that.
Find a Volunteer Opportunity that Feeds Your Soul
The thing about volunteer work is that, in my life, it has felt more like an obligation than a volunteer opportunity. They suggest that you do it in high school because it looks good on college applications, but it didn’t help to pay for college costs. Then I was doing it in college as part of the requirements for my sorority, but I don’t know if I ever found an opportunity that shaped my being the way Alex was kind of shaped as a little kid helping the Humane Society.
Yes, I believed in the causes I volunteered to do. I think libraries are a necessary part of communities, and that literacy is a very important skill for children to have. I also believe that it’s great to have programs that foster confidence in girls while also teaching them skills to lead a happy and healthy life. And yet, even as I gave my time to support these things, I have not felt changed by them in the same way volunteering has changed the lives of others. Maybe there’s a sad privilege I have in saying that, but I would like to find that too.
Something on This List Should Be Related to Games
I remember loving games when I was growing up. Jump rope, card games, and then video games came into my life. I ended up with my cousin’s old Game Boy Color, and a loyal Nintendo player was born. Similar to how Yugi was the King of Games in YuGiOh, I wanted to be the queen of games when I got older.
I don’t know if it was realizing how bad I was at games, or if games changed as a result of app games being more accessible with the development of touch-screen phones, but my relationship with games changed. I don’t play them as much anymore, and I have noticed when I play with my sisters that I am a pretty bad player. Because of that, I thought it would be good for me to have a list item here about games, but I haven’t completely thought about what that item should be yet. Maybe it will be to design a game, or to finish playing a game.
Become More Comfortable in the Kitchen (But Less than an Expert)
Something that I mention time and time again is my love of food. Or at least, I think it is something that I mention time and time again; this might just be something that I think because a girl in high school I was trying to be friends with said that I had no personality beyond talking about food. Obviously we didn’t stay friends, but that love of food is something I have held on to until this day.
I would say that I am pretty comfortable in the kitchen, but I would like to become more so. Initially when I wrote this list, I wrote “Become an Expert in the Kitchen,” but then the image that came to my mind was of a professional chef in the kitchen, and that is not what I want. To clarify, I want to become more knowledgeable than I am now, but I don’t want to become a chef and making it into my business or anything.
Something on This List Should Be Related to Television
There’s a part of me that wants to believe that I am a product of my generation, but I don’t know if I’ve met anyone my age who was raised by the television like I was. Before moving to Florida, coming home from school meant watching PBS Kids until 6 PM, when the kids programming was over. Weekends still meant getting up early on Saturdays to watch the cartoons on 4Kids until the afternoon. And this was before my family ever got cable.
And my family got cable in a time where television was truly able to shape who I was developing into. It was the golden age of Disney Channel, with shows like Hannah Montana and movies like High School Musical. Lately I’ve been re-watching The Fairly Oddparents. Because I love entertainment so much, I feel like something on this list should be related to TV, but I’m not sure how that would encapsulate, or even fit in, with my life today.
Let Yourself Have Fun Again
This list item is probably my main takeaway from the movie. It makes me a little sad to think about my childhood sometimes, because I wonder if I grew up too fast. Like, as the oldest sibling, I was always told to set the example for my sisters and to be responsible for them. Then maybe there was a time where I was trying to have fun and I wasn’t watching them, and something happened that I was reprimanded for it, so then I started pulling away from fun.
Thinking about it makes me a little sad, so I think I would like to have fun again. To feel the freedom of having a child-like fun and having that kind of wonder. I don’t know if it’s possible after all these years of training myself to suppress it, but I want to be hopeful about it.
And that is my life list. Do you find yourself relating to any of my goals? Is there anything your inner child would want to see you do? What movie has made you think about how you’re living your life? Tell me in the comments down below!
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Love Always,
Kristi My
Kristi My Dao 