Make a checklist.

A simple request. Mentally or on a piece of paper—both are fine. But I want you to make one. What I want you to put in it are things. Ideas, aspects, events; maybe not things in the literally sense, but they are things—to you, and your life. Things that matter.

Things that make you happy. I want you to make this list, because I think it’ll come in handy, someplace on someday. I believe that making this list will help you in the long run.

But I can’t make you do anything, I can only go as far as you’re willing to go. Are you willing to go as far as making a checklist, mental or otherwise, of the things that make you happy, the things that matter, the things you enjoy or the things you care about? It shouldn’t take long, if you already know what you’re listing.

Something tells me you do, but that’s up to your discretion to expand upon. I’m just going to tell you to make that checklist. Do something with it. Write it down after you have it in your head. Post it on your fridge, or the bulletin board above your desk. Stick it to the inside of your binder, or briefcase. Make it your computer’s wallpaper. Just something to remind you, or reassure you, of the things you made that list for.

I’ll give you an example. I’ll make one right now.

My Checklist.

1) Rekindling past friendships.
2) Finding new ones.
3) Learning to do something you never thought you could.
4) Finishing something and looking at it from a distance you can fully appreciate.
5) Sitting in a movie theatre with popcorn and a large drink.
6) Sitting on a couch and watching a movie around a quiet house.
7) Dancing indoors with sunglasses and nobody home.
8) Having a sudden creative epiphany.
9) The sound of marker against paper.
10) The sound of rain against a window.
11) Sunlight hitting my back.
12) Snow touching my face.
13) Insulated hands.
14) Someone else’s hands.
15) Being in a moving car with no destination in mind.
16) Being in that car with people you want to be in a car with.
17) Driving down a highway early in the morning or late at night.
18) Sitting on hoods and drinking coffee.
19) Discovering music you automatically love.
20) Nostalgia, but not the bitter kind.
21) Vivid dreams.
22) Being in a parking lot with no other people but you and your friend.
23) Honest conversations.
24) Laughing at the stupidest things.
25) Writing something and not stopping for whatever reason.
26) Feeling like you really need to do something you think worthwhile.
27) The sensation of a car’s stereo sound system.
28) Cars honking and construction work.
29) Busy streets and talking people.
27) The smell of the city.
29) Skipping rocks.
30) Spreading and sharing love.
31) Receiving it too.
32) Looking at ending credits and not wanting to go back to reality.
33) My eye behind a camera.
34) My right hand holding a pen.
35) Sitting uncomfortably until I get that last sentence out.
36) Yonge & Dundas.
37) That shirt I made.
38) Queen Street, both of them.
39) Playing online, but feeling like you’re there in person.
40) Playing with each other, and not caring if I win.
41) Bus stops and soft talk.
42) Crevices.
43) Knowing you belong somewhere and everybody you know thinks you do too.
44) Explaining to friends what they don’t want to understand.
45) Ambient music with 10, 15, 16, and 17.
46) The new ____________ smell.
47) The weight off my shoulders.
48) Free. Time.
49) Running away for a few hours.
50) Waiting for something to happen, and experiencing it when it does.
51) Fresh air.
52) Accepting what first comes to mind.
53) Realization.
54) That last bell.
56) Enjoying the lesson.
57) Living life it as it comes.
58) Finally not worrying anymore.
59) Friends. Real friends.
60) Watching somebody change the world.
61) Knowing there’s a chance you can too.
62) Optimism.
63) Port Credit.
64) Union Station and all the smaller ones along the way.
65) The apartment in Hong Kong.
66) The streets in Hong Kong.
67) Canal Street, Broadway, Times Square and everything else.
68) Tunnels.
69) Whoever, or whatever gave me hands and a head.
70) All those campuses I could be at.
71) All those soundstages I could be filming in.
72) All those things I could be doing.
73) What I’m doing right now. 
74) Living.

There’s always more, but this is it for now.

Tell me, what’s your checklist?