me myself and i: a list

Sometimes I like to make a list.   To remind myself of something.  So I want to remember, right now, the most amazing and diverse experiences I've had in my 41 years.   How fortunate I am.

I've swam beneath a waterfall in the Mexican jungle.
I've swam near a sea turtle in Hawaii.
With a dolphin in the Carribean.
I've swam naked in the Mediterranean.

I've posed for a photo naked on the Queensborough Bridge, NYC.  And in Chinatown.
I've danced to reggae in Mexico, salsa in Guatemala and swing at jazz clubs in New York.
I've acted on a stage in Scotland.
Exhibited a photo at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I have found jobs in other countries.
I have marched on Washington.

Painted murals with kids in Guatemala, pinhole photography with incarcerated youth in Chiapas, Mexico.
Taught in an inner city junior high.
Painted with the children of migrant farmworkers in California.

I know something about painting, developing film and printing pictures, printmaking, writing and self-publishing.

Gotten lost on a train in Germany.  Touched the Berlin Wall.
Seen Run DMC in Belgium, the Fugees in Ireland.
I have been inside the Sistene Chapel, and marveled at the feet of David.  Painted on the canals of Venice and picked grapes in a village.
I have been atop the Eiffel Tower and the World Trade Center.  Seen the Guatemalan jungle from the top of a Mayan pyramid.

I've married outside my culture, perfected (almost) another language.  I have found love.
I've given birth to two little human beings.
I have learned what it is to advocate for another person.   I have learned about disability.

I have found great satisfaction from counseling others through jobs that support families.

I have attended events and thrown parties but have also done things on my own when I wanted to.  Dancing in NYC or traveling in Mexico.  I am comfortable with others and by myself. I create opportunities.
I create community.
I am living life to the fullest.