Last December I participated in a project called reverb10 on my blog.  Each day I was given a writing prompt and wrote a blog post on that prompt.  When December ended, so did reverb, except they continued giving us monthly prompts.  I am a WEE bit behind on these prompts.  I just got one today for August, and realized I still have March’s in my inbox.  So today I am going to write on March’s prompt.

If March 2011 was your last month to live, how would you live it?

That was the prompt.  At the time I was stressed and busy, and I just couldn’t write about that.  Besides which the whole "last month to live" is such a clichéd topic.  Your choices are, do you travel, do you visit your family?  What else is there?

And that’s what I did in JULY.  I saw my parents.  I visited a friend in Chicago.  I spent ridiculous amounts of time with my friends–I had some of those crazy nights where SO much happens and you are out really late and the next day you have to talk through the whole night with your friend who was there ("Did this really happen??") .  I worked out a ton and ran over 75 miles.  I read tons of books and saw a bunch of movies.  I practiced the violin and listened to a lot of great music.  I ate some amazing meals and drank some fantastic wine. 

What would I have wanted to do as well, if it were my last month to live?  I didn’t get to spend as much time with Chris as I would have liked.  I would have wanted to also see my siblings and my grandmother.  And maybe I would have liked to go somewhere tropical for a few days, to either sit on the deck of a cruise ship enjoying the breeze and the open water, or sit on the beach, pina colada in hand.  I could have played some Beethoven String Quartets, or maybe a Mahler Symphony or two, or maybe Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony. 

If it were my last month to live, there are things I wouldn’t have worried about doing that I had to do. Working, for instance, though I barely worked all month, or perhaps wedding planning (though again, that’s a generally fun thing except when I freak out and yell at Chris for a really long time…oooh, he’s coming home today, will I be starting that again…but I digress), or cleaning too much (not that I really do) or trying to lose weight, or returning phone calls for fall semester work.  That would have given me even more time!

I guess what I’m saying is:  July was pretty awesome.  It ended on a terribly sad note, and the news still isn’t good in regards to my friend Alicia and her fiancé Andrew.   But otherwise it was a fantastic month.  Hug your pets and loved ones and feel lucky if you are healthy and alive.  And I know we have to be adults and responsible, but goodness, if you aren’t basically living your life in a positive way, you need to make changes.  I’m really looking forward to the next few months as I start my new work schedule and my new position with Chamber Project St Louis (still to be announced).  It’s going to be a fantastic rest of the year.