18

Hey everybody!

 

Tomorrow I am turning 18. Big day, huh? Adulthood, legal responsibilities, future loans, may I go on?

However, I wish I hadn’t. So soon.

It’s just – there are so many things out there I wish I had done and achieved until now.

Can today be a 1440 hours day? Please? I just feel that maybe if I get more hours, I’ll be able to do at least a part of what I wanted to do until now.

 

♦♦♦

 

To start with, I wish I knew when the Vietnam war took place and how the US was involved.

Then, I wish I knew what are the differences between Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Islam, Lutheranism, Unitarism and other major religious cultures. I’m not clueless, but I feel my knowledge can improve.

I wish I knew how to bake a cake. Or at least, cook something for that matter (besides omelets, pancakes, pasta, basic soups, mashed potatoes, salads and appetizers). Ok, maybe I am underestimating myself a bit. Still, I would love to know how to make some more complex dishes. Food Channel and TLC must come to my place and teach me. You hear me up, guys?

I wish I knew what’s the meaning of my life. What am I doing here? (Help? – Is there a free phone line I can call to solve my philosophical issues? No?)

I wish I knew how I can help the world be a better place. (No sign of that phone line? Really?)

I wish I had discovered how to time travel until now. It’s possible, you know. If not by time traveling, how could Ray Bradbury predict our book-blaming and 4-walls flat-screens society? I would go and save the Library of Alexandria, just in case somebody is wondering. Cliché? Probably. But it’s a hella of good cause.

I wish I had read something by Jules Verne. I know what you’re going to say, but I did have a happy childhood even without his work!

I wish I had met Malala. I think that sums up the entire experience.

I wish I had helped my family more. With daily chores, financial aspects or anything. I just want to help them as least as much as they helped me.

I wish I was able to talk openly about my feelings. These feelings that keep me up at night, fiddling with my pillow.

I wish I had given more to the society. Not to brag about it and to post something on Facebook, but just to do it. To give something back having no expectations of receiving anything.

I wish I could have taken a trip with my friends to the seaside. To pull an all-nighter, to talk about great times together around a campfire and to turn marshmallows into hot sticky balls of pleasure.

Paradoxically or not, I wish I had eaten healthier sooner (the marshmallows are an exception – once a year. And any other sweet, once every two hours, but hey, I need sugar to keep on moving!).

I wish I had read more. Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Homer, Tolstoy, Allan Poe, e e cummings, Kafka, the Brontë sisters and the list goes on. I wish I spent more time on good quality books which have proved to last for decades.

I wish I had traveled more. By bus, by train, by car, by plane, by boat, by dream. I just want to see the world and never stop.

I wish I could understand better international relations. And why wars happened. And still happen.

I wish I had road tripped at least once with my friends.

 

♦♦♦

 

But don’t worry for me. There are few hours left until I’m 18 and I have big plans for tonight.

 

♦♦♦

 

Tonight, I am planning on becoming the youngest Vietnam war expert while understanding better international relations.

Tonight, I am planning on being able to hold a lecture on religious differences at a university level while also figuring out the meaning of my life. Maybe through the filter of spirituality, who knows?!

Tonight, I am planning on baking a cake (we’re all good at theory, so I’ll just jump to practice) while also helping my family with other errands or domestic activities.

Tonight, I am planning on changing the world. Perhaps you’ll wake up tomorrow with the news that some books have been recovered from the fire of the library of Alexandria. For your info, that may have been me.

Tonight, I am planning on traveling the world with the help of Mr. Verne, with whom I expect to go through extraordinary experiences. I heard he’s quite good at such things.

Tonight, I am planning on meeting Malala. Most probably, by a mental connection, while discussing how to give more to the society. I’ll let you know how that went.

Tonight, I am planning on sorting my feelings and doing something about their existence, while deciding how to live better, healthier and with less sugar. (Crying on the inside).

Tonight, I am planning on scheduling a nice seaside escape. Preferably by train. There’s something about trains that makes me just bloom with excitement. If you find out what it is, give me a sign.

Tonight, I am planning on devouring my entire bookcase. So, don’t judge my future bag eyes. They hold experience and information. BAM.

 

♦♦♦

 

It’s pretty ambitious, you know me.

However, I’ll probably fall asleep while reading five books at the same time, but I still think I can pull off some things during sleep.

Maybe this way I’ll find a way to be conscious during night time. Or how to browse the Internet with my own mind.

Gotta go,

This to-do-list is not going to get ticks on its own.

 

See you soon!

Laura