As I am writing this, I am 20 years, 7 months, 23 days, 12 hours, 9 minutes, and 57 seconds old. 58 seconds. 59 seconds. Okay 10 minutes.

I have roughly 129 days, or 4 months until I turn 21. This feels like a lot of time, and absolutely none at all. To mark this milestone, I made a “21 Before 21” list. 21 things I want to do before the clock runs out on this chapter of my life.

I’ve definitely made a very similar list for my 20th birthday probably. Or for 2025. Or for sophomore year of college, or in high school. But the problem is, I almost never actually do the stuff I write down. So this time, I’m putting it here, on the internet, for everyone to see, so then maybe I’ll actually follow through.

1. Hand-write thank-you notes to five people who have shaped my life so far
2. Read a classic novel I’ve always avoided
3. Learn one song on the piano/guitar
4. Get a tattoo (or another piercing)
5. Do a 30-day challenge
6. Finish a journal
7. Take a train somewhere random and just explore
8. Host a popup bar and bartend for it
9. Make a signature drink
10. Take a cooking class
11. Sleep overnight in the library
12. Write a (nonfiction) book on a topic I know nothing about
13. Make a film
14. Abs
15. Make a $100. Doesn’t matter how.
16. Do 3 hikes
17. Make a magazine
18. Watch a horror movie outside in the dark
19. Rejection therapy for a week
20. Create a piece of pottery I use on the daily
21. Make a piece of art and leave it in a public place with a note that says “free, take me”

I don’t think doing 21 things before I turn 21 will suddenly change my life. I just want to stop saving cool ideas to do “later” and actually do them while I still can call myself twenty-anything. I probably won’t even get through the whole list, but worst case, I get a couple good stories out of it. Best case, I actually follow through on a random list for once!

We’ll see :’)

Btw, should I blog this? feels like too many blog posts. vlog it? but on what? my @therivagallery account on Instagram? I feel like it’d be too cluttered and not enough art-related things. Then again, this blog is called The Riva Gallery and there’s barely art stuff on there. Or maybe TikTok. I don’t really follow most people I know on TikTok though. Perhaps a YouTube channel? Could be the move. Knowing me I’ll be too lazy to edit. I think I’ll do Instagram. Okay. Yes. Let me know if you have suggestions.