Disclaimer: I read Evie En Rose’s five year plan (seriously go read it!!) and was incredibly inspired, so I thought I’d try my own.
I’ve never thought much of a five year plan. I always thought “i’m too young to have to worry about that, life will happen as it comes.” Now, at 22 years old, with friends moved abroad or working at big corporate jobs, I fear it is time. But, what do I want in five years?
I want to travel to Greece, and not worry about spending 20 euros on a dress that fits me perfectly and is locally made. I want to jump in the bluest water I’ve ever seen and embrace the salt and waves in my hair over dinner. I want to learn how to dive, elegantly swan diving with little splash into any body of water I am around. I want to live in the UK and Paris and maybe somewhere in Southeast Asia, enjoying every type of routine each place brings. Maybe I’ll move back to my hometown, or maybe I’ll find a home in a place I’ve never been. I hope wherever I go, the barking of my dogs and laughter of my mum envelop me like a scarf in the cold.
I want to eat good food, and I mean really good food - homemade pastas in Italy and spicy jambalaya in New Orleans and fresh sashimi in Japan. I want to learn how to find, prep, and shuck oysters, enjoying every ounce of salty water goodness after my work to acquire them. I want to take cooking classes around the world, learning from every local mama the secret to make their dish just right, passing those secrets on to my own community (or keeping them to myself to have my own renowned recipe). I will be conscious of my intake but never fixate on it, knowing food is fuel for the body and the soul. I’ll feed my soul everywhere I go and maybe one day i’ll make carbonara from scratch.
I want a secure job doing something I love. Notice how ambiguous this is because I’ve always said - I don’t even know the name of my dream job yet. I want to get closer to that, or find something I enjoy, at least for a while. I’d like a better morning routine, and not in a rigid, I must sauna and cold plunge and drink greens and mediate for 72 minutes before even thinking about my phone kind of way. Instead, I want to wake up feeling refreshed, have time to enjoy my coffee and whatever weather mother earth decides to welcome us with, read an article, play a crossword, then get ready. I want to enjoy the little things, oh yeah and a buttery pastry, in the mornings.
By 27 (my five year future), maybe I’ll have kids or maybe my dreams will change. Maybe I won’t feel ready and need more time or maybe I’ll be so ready I’m already halfway there. But I want to learn how to bake before that happens. I want my kids to come home to the smell of freshly baked cinnamon buns and fruit from our garden. But also, I want my kids to know that I (their mum) work and dream and have drive just like them, but that’s another story in itself. I hope to still have fun and let loose and dance, with or without kids. In clubs, in my kitchen, on the beach, in my car (because I will have my license by this point). I don’t want to let go of letting go.
I want to appreciate every change in my body, and not get stuck on size this or botox that. I hope I grow to love my smile lines and new stretch marks and moles and extra cushion. I’d like to love every age of me, from 27 to 37 to 67, and all the changes I see. I hope I never stop believing in myself and my capabilities. I hope success is not money and big houses and promotions, but instead laughter and crowded homes and stamps in my passport. I hope my beauty and spirit from within shines out of my shell in everything I do.
I want to fall in love, in different ways. I’ve found a perfect love - safe, calm, gentle, exciting, and whole. But I want more; is that greedy? I want to find love with strangers in a new country over a glass of wine while the sun sets. I want to find love in the grocery store line where we both recommend our favourite crackers for a charcuterie board and laugh over our conquest for the perfect crunch. I want to find love for the people who I don’t love - slow walkers, loud talkers, know-it-alls. I want to find beauty in every person I meet, and feel love all around.
I guess I do have things I want to accomplish in five years, but I never want to feel pressure to do it. I just want to do it - spend time doing the things that are hard and new and exhilarating and fun. I want to experience life. I hope I never lose sight of the fact that we only get one life - this is it. I hope that my list continues to grow and I’m never afraid to add more. I’m a maximalist at heart anyways. Most of all, I hope I always smile as big as the picture of me on this post, but if there are times when I don’t, that’s okay. I know it’ll come back again.
what do you want to do in five years?