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11 year-old Kate’s plans for life

February 15, 2020

I was going through my old journals and found this page. Not only did it make me laugh, it made me proud that I’ve actually accomplished some of the things on it!

My plans for life (in no particular order)
Written by Kate as an 11 year old 2006

  1. Graduate from [my high school].
  2. Done.

  3. Go to [my university] and get degrees in creative writing and literature.
  4. I did go to [my university]! But I switched out of English literature after second year and studied politics and economics instead.

  5. Do the writing thing Mrs. H (grade 6 teacher) was talking about.
  6. I think this was some sort of publishing program, and I was inspired because my teacher said her friend did it and “walked right into a job in book editing.” However, I no longer feel the need to do this one.

  7. Do courses in fashion design.
  8. I used to want to be a fashion designer (among other things). An influential person in my life at the time discouraged this, and when I asked why, they said because all fashion designers are weird. (Something like they have skewed priorities and don’t know how to relate to normal people.) I have come to agree.

  9. Make some huge sculptures.
  10. I was really into art as a kid. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to this one.

  11. Learn to shape metal.
  12. Or this.

  13. Make my own glass beads.
  14. Or this. I still like making jewelry, but not as much as I used to—and that’s okay.

  15. Sell cards, jewelry, and other stuff.
  16. I’ve sold a few pieces of jewelry and miscellaneous hand-sewn items, so I’m going to count this one as done.

  17. Get married at age 25.
  18. Well, that ship has sailed. Lol. #foreveralone

  19. Have three wonderful kids at ages 28, 30, and 31.
  20. Still possible, and I still want kids… but now I think it’s unlikely to happen exactly as planned 😛

  21. Live in the beaches district of Toronto in my dream house next door to [person I cared about].
  22. My aunt had a house in the beaches at the time and I thought it was the coolest place ever. For now, though, I’d rather keep traveling.

  23. Become mediumly rich.
  24. Still working on it.

  25. Learn to draw hands better.
  26. I’m not as into drawing anymore, but I did learn to draw hands better, so I’m going to consider this one done. Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis was really helpful.

  27. Become an excellent seamstress.
  28. Not done; my sewing is merely adequate. But again, I’ve decided I’d rather pay someone else to do this than put in the time to do it myself.

  29. Die at a good time, when I’m sleeping.
  30. Curious that I thought to place this in the middle of the list, and not the end, but then I did say “in no particular order.”

  31. Go on shopping sprees in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, and Tokyo.
  32. Aside from Madrid, I have actually bought clothes in all these places! But I’m not sure why this was so important to me. Maybe because I was obsessed with Trinny and Susannah at the time, and they were always talking about their glamorous shopping spree locations? Anyway, I’m glad to say that I’ve recovered from my burgeoning shopaholism and now actively avoid “sprees.”

  33. Go to Venice with my husband.
  34. I ended up going to Venice as a teenager, and now I don’t feel much need to go back. I’ll call that close enough.

  35. Make a room entirely out of candy with a floor made out of jelly and marshmallow and then have a candy party.
  36. Still a priority, obviously—see 3 things I wish existed—but I fear I may never achieve this one.

  37. Publish at least one book.
  38. Working on it.

  39. Become a book editor/author/fashion designer/artist/jewelry maker/seller of stuff.
  40. Somewhat done (I have edited a few books), somewhat no longer concerned (fashion and jewelry design, owning a boutique), mostly still working on it (editing, writing and art). Overall, I’d say pretty close!

Bonus

Another page from this journal: an early version of ugly clothes with funny captions.

I cut this out of a magazine (I’m pretty sure it was Town and Country) because I was so offended that anyone would consider $128 a “bargain.” I believe I thought an appropriate price for a watch was $15.

Plus, I thought this looked exactly like a bracelet I had made in my elementary school’s after-4 arts-and-crafts program by stringing beads onto safety pins, as in the tutorial below.

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