What's on Your Life List?

Daily News for Curious Minds

Be the smartest person in the room by reading 1440! Dive into 1440, where 4 million Americans find their daily, fact-based news fix. We navigate through 100+ sources to deliver a comprehensive roundup from every corner of the internet – politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a quick, 5-minute newsletter. It's completely free and devoid of bias or political influence, ensuring you get the facts straight. Subscribe to 1440 today.

Sign up now!

Welcome to Creatives Anonymous, a weekly newsletter that explores what it means to be a modern-day creative through essays, interviews, and commentary.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

Over the weekend, I watched The Life List on Netflix. The premise of the movie is this: 

A young woman (Sofia Carson) embarks on a journey of self-discovery, working through a list of goals she wrote as a teenager, at the request of her late mother (Connie Britton). As she navigates the messy process of her second coming-of-age, she confronts her grief while finding the courage to live fully again.

In the film, Connie Britton’s character talked about Sofia Carson’s character’s “life list,” as a set of dreams, aspirations, and goals she set for herself when she was 13. Some of the things on her list were: “Get a tattoo,” “Read Moby Dick,” “Play Clair de Lune on the piano.” 

She mentioned that the concept of a “life list” becomes a map to our best selves and accurately reflects who we are at our core. 

That whole concept is what inspired this issue. 

One of the philosophies I’ve come to adopt for myself (and continuously see play out as I refer back to my archive) is that we are our most authentic selves when we are about 13. 

Our personal style. Our hobbies. Our interests. What we believe about the world. 

We could explore the world and our interests before we succumbed to the peer pressure of trying to fit in. Before we lost our sense of fearlessness. Before we lost our innocence and came of age.

The world was our oyster, and we had nothing to lose. We had this sense of risk-taking and adventure. 

Before we wake up and reality hits us with security and sensibility and suddenly we lose that sense of fearlessness. And we become stuck.

It got me thinking about my own life list. 

Looking back at my old journals (because I definitely took that detour to research my archive for this issue), I only ever wrote down one back when I was 18, before I graduated from high school.

I wish I had kept one of all the life goals I wanted to accomplish when I was younger. I always think about what would be on that list. What crazy things would I have wanted to accomplish?

Over the years, I have started a grown-up version of a “life list,” which includes very adult experiences such as “getting married,” “buying a house,” and “going to an F1 race.” 

The problem is that it reads more like a goals list than a bucket list. Everything is so pragmatic and realistic. 

Nothing on my current life list seems remotely impossible or delulu. 

And I think that’s the difference between creating a life list as a teenager versus an adult. As teenagers, we believe anything is possible because so much of our life is still unwritten. 

As adults, we’re settled into a routine and have created this life for ourselves. We’re more realistic about what we can and can’t do. Our sense of delulu is gone. We choose safety and comfort over risk. 

We’re more afraid to try. 

It takes a lot of courage to try something new, whether applying to something we really want or trying our hand at a new hobby. 

We’re afraid of being cringe, getting rejected, or losing it all. 

And worst of all, we’re afraid of failing. 

Years ago, I heard this phrase, which has stuck with me: “The attempt is equal to the accomplishment.”

Even if the outcome isn’t what you expected, you should still be proud of yourself for trying in the first place because it takes guts to do so.

Trying is the only way to see what’s actually possible. It’s the only way to blow your own mind. 

You quantum leap into this whole new timeline for yourself and gain a sense of confidence and fearlessness that you’ve never experienced before. 

And so you want to more of it. 

The concept of a life list encourages us to live courageously and fully and pursue the things we really want, no matter the outcome. 

It encourages us to be delusional and challenge ourselves to do the impossible. 

And it encourages us to get out of our comfort zone and try. 

So, as I’m building a new version of my life list for myself, I encourage you to ask yourself the same question I’m asking myself: 

Pretend you are your 13-year-old self again. What would your life list look like if you weren’t afraid to try? 

Creative Corner

• 🎞️ What I’m Consuming: The Life List on Netflix and On Photography by Susan Sontag

• 💡 What I’m Loving: The concept of a “personal canon”—my friend Kara talked about it in her newsletter last week and got me thinking about mine!

• 🎨 What I’m Working On: I’m hoping to photograph the cherry blossoms on the UW Quad this week since they are in peak bloom

• 💭 Weekly Musing:

Thank you 💕

If you liked this newsletter, I’d love it if you could forward it to someone who you think would like it, too!

I’m so grateful for all of your support!

Alexa Phillips is a writer, brand strategist, and multi-passionate creative. She is the founder of Bright Eyes Creative, a Seattle-based consultancy and media company that helps founder-led consumer brands and creatives become tastemakers with content-driven brand experiences & media.

Where to find me:

• Learn more about my services 

• Listen to my recent podcast episodes.

• Follow along as I build Culture Slant, a new magazine + podcast at the intersection of brand, marketing, media, culture, commerce, and technology.

• Join Write Club, free weekly 90-minute co-writing sessions dedicated to helping you knock out all the content you have to write for your business.

• Book a Brand Tune-Up, a free 45-minute brand and business audit geared toward helping you get inspired, re-energized, and courageously make the next leap in your business.