52 Weeks: A Year to Live (AYTL) Experiment
This year-long experiment can be started at any time. The idea is to treat this year (starting now) as though it were our last. To imbue each week with the appreciation, awe, and curiosity we often forget.
For this reason, there are two interrelated prompts each week—one for writing/expression and one for living away from the page or stage. Both are designed to help you to, if nothing else, remember the intention to live this year as fully as possible.
To experience it all. To live it as you.
“If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make who would you call and what would you say?
And why are you waiting?”
― Stephen Levine
No idea is all our own. This experiment was inspired by A Year to Live by Stephen Levine, Advice on Dying: And Living a Better Life by the Dalai Lama XIV, The Last Lecture by Jeffrey Zaslow and Randy Pausch, Storytelling Alchemy by Renee Damoiselle, and The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Gratitude to each of these writers and teachers for catalyzing the idea.
What you’ll need:
a journal
a few minutes each week to reflect
a few minutes each day to intentionally remember - I can help you if you subscribe
an open mind
Start anytime. Prompts are at the bottom, in case you’d like to skip the posts.
On moving forward & Week 1 of 52
“My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”
On the last lecture & week 48 of 52
You’re on stage and not the least bit nervous. You take a deep breath and release, feeling your shoulders soften and cheeks lift. You zero in on a face in the crowd and see how eager this person is to hear what you are about to say.