Six months of 70forseventy

I first started thinking about my 70forseventy experience around winter solstice last year, and by 1 January I had the first draft of The List. Amazingly the challenge wasn't how to find seventy things to include, but how to limit myself to seventy things!

So exactly six months on, I thought it was time to step back for a moment to see where I'm at. First of all, that list: these are the things that I've done or am doing.

Write a blog about doing 70 for seventy ✔ This is it!
Reach level at least A2 in Spanish ✔ I'm up to a 277 day streak on Duolingo and it tells me that I'm now at middle A2 level. I'm not so sure, but I'm carrying on doing my half an hour a day and can also often be found wandering round the vineyards with Indie muttering away to myself in (bad) Spanish. I started to learn on Duolingo last autumn when I was on my usual October holiday in L'Estartit - I'm going this year again so the truth will out when I open my mouth!
Do Pilates at least 3 times a week ✔ So far so - mostly - good (with the odd session missed when time's been short or I'm out or away). I have a fab online teacher who I've been working with for - wow! - nearly 5 years.
Do cardio/HIIT/fast walking once a week ✔ Yep, just about keeping up with this, though during the summer heat I'm doing cardio swimming instead, with 3 swims a day and around 1500 metres most days.
Cook dinner for friends ✔ Just twice so far but more to come for sure.
Go to 4 Convivencia concerts ✔ Convivencia is a unique festival - world music concerts held on a large peniche that travels the length of the Canal du Midi, from Toulouse to somewhere close to the end, and parks up at various halts or ports. I've been to at least two of the local gigs every year for the last 3 years, since my first summer in the Minervois. This year's festival has just started, and I'm intending to go to Paraza (15 July), La Redorte (17 July), Le Somail (19 July) and Colombiers (21 July).
Go to at least one rock concert ✔ I'm excited to be seeing Robert Plant at Carcassonne on 23 July.
Do a dance workshop and /or see a dance performance ✔ I went to a fab performance of Swan Lake at Narbonne Arena in May.
Practise gratitude every day ✔ How could I not?
Walk by the sea at least once every month ✔ So far so good ... Gruissan, Narbonne, Valras, Leucate, Vendres, Argelès ...
Swim in the sea at least once a month between April and October ✔ Ditto, though April was bloody cold!
Learn to juggle ✔ Have balls, am learning, but oh, it's a work in progress ...
Fly a kite on the beach ✔ I had such fun flying my kite on the beach at Vendres earlier this month - it felt like such an innocent, child-like thing to do. Hoping for many more times when the wind is 'just right'!
Grow my hair ✔ Well, it has grown quite long already, probably because I haven't cut it 😉. People seem to like it - I'm still getting used to it after 30 years of cropped locks and it's a complete change of image for me (I still sometimes get a shock when I see myself in the mirror).
Watch the summer solstice sunrise ✔ An amazing morning at the Dolmen des Fades on the Pépieux/Siran border on 21 June - perfect weather and what a perfect and atmospheric location!
Learn more about and practice Positive Aging I was already really interested in this but have been reading and thinking a lot more around it, from physical/mental/psychological/dietary/spiritual perspectives. It's irrevocably linked with how I'm choosing to live this next phase of my life and I'm blessed to be surrounded by so many people who are also living positively, whether consciously or not! A Blue Zone in the Minervois perhaps?
Eat out solo somewhere totally new ✔ Just once so far - at Le Petit Resto on the port of Argelès sur Mer, somewhere that's been on my radar for a long time. There will be more - solo dining is a real treat for me!
Come out as happily separated-and-single ✔ Friends have known about my rather 'unique' circumstances for a long time, but I'm now very happy to introduce myself as single to all and sundry, and the various health professionals that I'm involved with on J's behalf all also know that although we live in the same house we're separated and therefore both effectively single (if only that actually made a difference under French law ... sigh).
See everything as if for the first time ✔ Not too tricky as half the time I've forgotten that I've seen it before! But seriously, I do try and have a beginner's mind for everything.
List and honour all the things I’ve done in my life that have inspired me and made me who I am ✔ Done at length, on this blog. And a real revelation to me too.
Dance, often ✔ I dance, often!
Try more local wines ✔ I'm trying to drink less - maybe not buy 5 litre BIBs just for me! - but better, so I'm enjoying trying more wines from this amazing wine region.
Do a mind puzzle every day ✔ And yes, I'm doing this - a ZenWord daily challenge on my phone, Sudoko a few times a week, the occasional Wordle or other puzzle. So important for me to keep my brain agile.
Do some shamanic rituals and ceremony ✔ For the last 5 months I've been doing some energy medicine and shamanic journeying courses with Alberto Villoldo and Marcela Lobos of The Four Winds Society, who trained, and lived with for many years several medicine men and women from the Amazon and the Andes.
Say no more ✔
But also say yes! ✔
Breathe mindfully every day ✔ This has evolved into 2 new things. I'm doing a 7 week Yi Quan Qigong course with the amazing Ken Cohen, which brings together visualisation and mindfulness with standing and walking qigong; and I've been doing breathwork sessions with various teachers online.
Make a playlist of 70 favourite pieces of music ✔ Here it is - click to listen.
Be a Zorba the Buddha ✔ Probably my ultimate aim in life and will no doubt be an ongoing work in progress until my last breath 😎
Celebrate one thing every day ✔
Seek joy in everyday life ✔ So much to celebrate and so much joy ... simple things.
Do a course to learn something new ✔ I'm a little way through a course on Canine Communication, and have signed up for another one on Canine First Aid (not started yet).
Stop feeling guilty about reading during the day ✔ Mega shift on this one! I've only ever previously given myself permission to read (for pleasure) during the day when I'm on holiday, but for some reason my qualms and my guilt have both disappeared and I'm more than happy to get a book out in the afternoon (haven't quite graduated to the morning yet 😂).
Use weights or resistance bands twice a week ✔ Yep, ongoing, often as a part of a pilates session.
Buy some clothes that aren’t what I’d usually wear (and wear them) ✔ To my surprise, not only have I done this but I've really enjoyed going out with a bit of a different image! (Haven't quite dared use the red lipstick on the main list though).
Carpe Every One of my Remaining Diems ✔ I put this is in a kind of final catch all / bit of overall life philosophy ... but it's become huge for me. More than just a simple list, 70forseventy has already played a big part in helping me change my whole approach to life. More on this in another post.