I have been reading a few bucket lists recently and I really liked some of the ideas on them but calling these things a bucket list freaks me out, I suppose because the idea is they’re stuff you want to achieve before you die, and once you’ve done them all… Well, I prefer to have a Yearly Wish List, or at the very most a sort of fantasy five year plan. I like the optimism of the assumption that everything on that list will come true sooner rather than later and the fluidity of always achieving your dreams/adding new ones.

I had completely forgotten I had written one of these Five Year Plan/Wish List things several years ago until the other day when something on it happened to come true (almost). Waaaay back in 2006 (OK, so longer than 5 years ago) I wished to one day play a solo at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. I forgot all about it until I was recently booked to play the second solo part in Vivaldi’s Double Concerto in A minor and the Concerto for two violins and cello with London Concertante (Thursday 12th September at 7:30pm, if anyone wants to come you can buy tickets here!) It resurrected my interest in long term wishing/life plans.

You may also remember that I promised to start sharing my usual “Hopes and wishes and dreams?… Yeurgh!” diary entries here in blog-form, despite my utter squeamishness about it, and this fits that category for sure! So, here’s a new non-bucket list, Wish List 2013-14, including some things from my old 2006 list which, lets face it, probably didn’t happen yet purely because I totally forgot to think about them:

Wish List 2013-14

* Play a solo (part) at St. Martin-in-the-Fields – hopefully soon to be ticked!

* Play a solo concerto at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

* Play at Wigmore Hall

* Play in a performance of Enescu’s Octet

* Have another baby (I think I will hold this off till the 2015 list!)

* Make a film (this could include writing/acting/directing)

* Appear in an episode of Poirot!

* Play Hermia in a Midsummer Night’s Dream

* Play in a big Symphony Orchestra (I’ve only ever done Concert/Chamber Orchestras professionally)

* Learn to surf

* Be fluent in another language (I’m pretty close in Romanian, but not close enough)

* Live for a year in New York

* Live in Italy

I have to say, the most amazing things I ever ticked off a similar list were on my list practically from birth (Ok, maybe from age 7 or 8) and they were to see the Northern Lights (2005 in Iceland..twice!) and to have children (I’m not sure I’m quite done there, but I couldn’t be happier with my two boys and if that was it for me, I’d still feel completely contented.) It’s an amazingly satisfying feeling. So having realised how awesome it feels to achieve even just one of these big things, I’m feeling motivated for more…

What’s on your list?