To Do in 2011

As this year whittles down, I want to make a list of things I missed out on and swore to revisit next year. These are not resolutions - I resolved a long time ago to not make any. These are merely things that I attempted (really wanted) to start this year but couldn't. My personal To-Do list. And I shall keep adding as and when they come to me. So here goes.

Museum Day - I really wanted to go the California Academy of Science. But of course, it was sold out. What with free admission and all. Maybe I don't have to wait for a whole year but go see this place I must.

Swimming - (Yes, I don't know how to. Don't give me that look!) Before next year's sun scorches down upon us, I shall be taking to the water like a fish.

Blog more - This has to be some sort of a record for me. I haven't written twice in the same month, ever. In fact, 2009 has all of TWO posts. Now now, I don't want to be getting ahead of myself, or lead you on to believe that this feat is going to be repeated. But, I shall commit to writing once a month at the very least.

Limbo: Does time really make EVERYthing better?

When there is a not-so-happy or disturbing experience (replace with traumatic/embarrassing.. take your pick) all that comes to mind for a while is the bad stuff. Only the memories that lead to the demise of that experience remain. It's like the good never happened. You sulk for a bit, fall in to a pattern, and then decide to grow up.. let the past be, and move on with your life. After a while, the bad stuff does not seem so bad anymore. After a while longer, you actually start to remember the good stuff. Even at this point, it's all black and white. You take in to account everything, both good and bad, and pat yourself on the back for standing your ground. You've moved on.

Fast forward some more.. the bad stuff starts to disappear, leaving more room for the hippocampus to flex some muscle and reel in the good. By this time, there has been enough advancement in life to not take the past in to consideration at all. But that's where the clarity ceases. Set foot in to the grey zone. Was it really that bad an experience to warrant a permanent death sentence from life altogether? Oh wait, warning bells go off in the distance. It all seems too familiar somehow. But instinct is reasoned with emotion, and all logic goes out the door.. taking the ringing bells with it.

The final leap in time.. and then you find yourself beyond zones. Does the past have any place in the present? Or maybe in the future? Will you regret not finding out? Before you know it, you are climbing the steps towards limbo. No man's land. One wrong step at this juncture could spell doom. Years worth of progress, wiped out in an instant. Or it could give you answers without which the present and the future are incomplete. Answers that can put a padlock on this time machine that goes back to revisit the scene.. over and over again.

Time is supposed to make everything better. But every now and then, it doesn't. It takes black and white, and turns it in to grey. And it doesn't end there. Time then teleports you to a place where you cannot discern the difference. Sometimes, time does not make everything better. It puts you in limbo.