(above: Djoniba Dance Centre’s 2012 spring show; Senegalese Sabar w/ Marie Basse-Wiles)
I ran across this list of advice, Rules for Life, when I was living in NYC between 2011 and 2012. I remember being struck by this list. So much so that I created a little art project for myself: I wrote each rule on a piece of card stock of various colors and sizes, in different colored pastel pencils, using different styled fonts, and then taped each rule all over my bedroom walls so that I could always see them when I was at home. It was a daily reminder for how to live life that added some color to my otherwise depressing, smaller-than-a-jail-cell, bedroom in a cramped Harlem apartment.
Back then, only a few of the rules truly resonated with me, in more lighthearted and superficial respects. Over these last 6 to 7 years, however, those that initially resonated, settled more profoundly, and the others that maybe didn’t mean as much or only generated an abstract feeling, have become paramount. With 30 on the horizon, what better time to revisit this list?
Stop waiting for the “right’ time/place/situation
Get good at something
Make mistakes
Love is all there is
Remember people’s names
Get fit!
Make music
Travel
Don’t let fear be all consuming
Be mysterious
Think positive thoughts
Learn to focus on the present/Live in the moment
Do what you love
Dance
Make art
Take an adventure
Work on making good first impressions
Learn to control your mind and your emotions
Start your day right
Visualize daily
Try to reduce your attachment to possessions
Set aside a specific time to worry each day
Learn to use your eyes to their full potential
Help other
Be honest at all times
Learn to lucid dream
Focus
Keep a journal
Utilize ‘the burning method’
Keep your brain sharp
Smile
Learn a language
Develop an endless curiosity about the world
Memorize something everyday
Get in the sun
Meditate everyday for at least 20 minutes
Read: something inspirational right before bed and after waking
Come up with a life mantra
Figure out what your goals and dreams are
Develop a charismatic personality
Drink water
Learn to use and trust your subconscious intuition
Don’t take life so seriously
Relax
Develop the ability to forgive
Be the person that makes others feel special
Learn to be unaffected by the words of others
Finish what you start
Choose your friends wisely
Do the most difficult things early in the day
like black butterflies 