Life is a journey with lots of milestones. I have stopped questioning the purpose of life because I found the answer and am happy with it. I have met many people who knew what they wanted to do since they were children, or teenagers. I admired them greatly for recognizing their dreams so young and passionately accomplishing those goals very early on in their lives. When I was asked that question of what I wanted to do since I was a child, I couldn’t come up with one single thing. I had many of them. Unknowingly, I have accomplished some of these childhood dreams. However, there is still that nagging question of what that one thing, or one theme of my life is. Here’s a list of things I wanted to do with my life prior to now:

• At 5, I wanted to be a painter. I painted whenever I could from then on until I came to America. And now I take pictures.
• At 6, I wanted to be a dancer. I danced from age 16 to now, Chinese dance, ballet, jazz/Broadway, salsa, and swing.
• At 9, I wanted to be a teacher like Dad. That dream didn’t really come true thanks Mom’s guidance. But I found ways to satisfy that dream in college.
• At 10, I wanted to be a mathematician because geometry fascinated me. Now I work with computer technology, which somewhat math related.
• At 12, I wanted to be a pilot and a doctor in the air force (that was the only place where people could fly planes in China). Both being a pilot and a doctor seem really far fetched at this point.
• At 13, I wanted to see the world. Coming to America made me realize the world is not so big. Travel to all kinds of places and meeting interesting people from different cultures interest me.
• At 16, I wanted to start my own cafe/bakery business. That dream is still a growing and evolving year by year. I haven’t given up on it.
• At 18, I wanted to volunteer in the peace corps, or doctors without borders, doing something with a positive impact of global humanitarian. Well, I plan to do that when I become rich one day. As much of a cliche this may be, I genuinely wished for world peace.
• At 21, I fell in love once and came close to marrying him.
• At 29, I just want to finish my PhD degree so that I can go out to experience the real world, as opposed to the sheltered world of academia.

Here’s a list of things I am working on:

• Write great software
• Keep building great and meaningful friendships
• Teach, be a mentor
• Become a good writer
• Become a really good amateur photographer
• Broadway musical dance
• Starting my own business
• Read at least two *great* books a year
• Race a Mini Cooper S
• Learn to row
• Run a marathon
• Become a pastry chef.

Here’s a growing list of things I still want to do:

• Sky dive
• Speak a third language (Spanish)
• Travel: Tibet, Italy, Provence, Tahiti, Peru, Southeast Asia, India, Paris, Spain
• Marry the man I love, and build a family with him
• Have a dog (Norwegian Elkhound or a dog that loves running)
• Own a house by a lake
• Plant a garden
• Study philosophy
• Pilot a plane
• Ride a motor cycle
• Build model sail boat

I can make lists of things I’ve done and things I still want to do with my life. I am really happy with my life. But I constantly ask the question of what the over-arching theme is. What am I most passionate about besides this life in general?