This is a strange bucket list in that it looks in large part like a to-do list. I don’t have a lot of resources to do normal bucket list things like go places, and I’m working on changing that. It’s also very short-term, as I turn 25 on November 8, but I didn’t want to let these things sit any longer than that. I’ve got some ideas for my next one already, too! Write an ebook, sign up for a gymnastics (or ballet) class. But for the next two months (to the day!), this is what I’ve got:
25 Before 25
Deadline: November 8, 2014
1. Shoot a wedding
2. Launch my new website
3. Redesign and recategorize my blog
4. Figure out the premise, sort out a team and do the first shoot in my fairytale series
5. Figure out the basics of my Oxford Time Travel Universe shoot series
6. Get a year-long lease on a room in NW3 or central London Make it stick
7. Pick up a new-this-year TV show
8. Catch up on design work
9. Get through my entire backlog of photos
10. Get my inbox down to zero
11. Read a book
12. Read a novel
13. Write out a weekly schedule
14. Write out a weekly blog schedule
15. Plan every day
16. Start getting up before 8 AM every day
17. Finish my CV
18. Clear my “read later” bookmark folder
18. Add media kit and calendar templates to my design shop
19. Add product photography listings to my design shop
20. Get my photography shop on Etsy back up to 100 listings
21. Make it to 1,000 followers on all social media accounts I’ve got 500+ on
22. Go to a fucking museum
23. Meet a fandom friend in person
24. Write a bit of fanfic
25. Take Sundays off
Notes:
When I say shoot a wedding, I mean it literally. I don’t have to be the main photographer at that wedding. Second (or third) shooting would be fine. I just want to shoot one. I’m very invested in getting into wedding photography professionally and I want to get the ball rolling as fast as I can.
I probably won’t be able to take all Sundays off, but I want to get to a point where I feel comfortable doing it, and not like I’m letting clients down. It ties in closely with #8. Setting Tuesdays aside for shooting is a big part of this and #13, too. I’m useless for laptop work on Tuesdays.
A new website (built by an e-commerce software company I won a giveaway from) means having a storefront other than Etsy, which is great because I’ll have control over it, won’t have to abide by guidelines set by people I don’t much like and I won’t get charged per listing, but a lot of clients find me through Etsy so I’m committed to making the most of that.
“Read a novel” is its own point separate from “read a book” because I’ve read bits of two books since I came to London, and there’s a good chance I’ll finish one of those first, and they’re both non-fiction. Which I like, and find easy to read, but I also really want to truly immerse myself in a story with joyful squealing and a happy ending, and that’s basically what YA (and some other stuff) does for me.
#4 and #5 are both editorial photographer goals, not modeling ones. I nearly added a couple of modeling things to this list (boudoir with a female photographer and cosplay) but one of the things I like about modeling is that I plan it, I do it, it’s done. I don’t want to burden myself with it.
#16 really needs to come with a “and go to sleep at a decent hour” addendum. I’m not sure what a decent hour is yet. Midnight?
I don’t have anyone in mind for the ‘meet a fandom friend’ bit. It may be someone I haven’t even met online yet. In my heart, a fandom friend includes my fandom friends’ fandom friends. These are people I chose and they are people whose judgment and priorities I trust. I don’t have any other circles, offline or on, quite like it.
This entire list is meant to kick my stress’s butt.