Hey there, and welcome to my blog: Partly Improvised! My name is Amy, a 28-year-old Chicago native who recently moved across the country from San Francisco to New York City. And, after years of procrastinating, I am finally adding my two cents to the tangled Web of the Wide World.

What kicked my butt into writing a blog, you ask

A few months back, I visited my parents’ home in Chicago. After some good ole’ snooping through attic boxes, I stumbled upon the ‘nostalgia jackpot’. And that jackpot was the entire stash of my old, handwritten journals.

My journals represented a running archive of goals, interests, and significant milestones documenting my life. Behind the leather bound pages held scribbles from childhood all the way through my college ‘bullet journaling’ phase.

—

But the true piece de resistance was a thin, unassuming beige Moleskin with the words ‘My Bucket List Journal’ scrawled across the cover. All 220 pages of the journal had a different “bucket list” item written across the top.

My plan was to create an artistic journal entry for every item I checked off. It was a commitment I made to myself with the hope that, one day, I could look back and reflect on my adventures.

But when I opened the journal nearly eight years later?

It was blank.

And that single moment kicked this whole blog concept off.

Seeing over 200 pages of untapped potential finally instilled a determination in me to begin filling in the blanks.

I used to imagine that, “when I grew up”, I would develop the agency and financial freedom to unlock any door that piqued my interest. What actually happened was that I grew increasingly anxious and self-conscious to chase the things that really excited me at my core. The metaphorical “doors” were there, heck, I even held the keys. But I was too afraid to put the keys in the lock and give the things that interested me a try.

I stood frozen with fear. But Time, with its steady and ever-moving footsteps, continued on.

Reading those bright-eyed journal entries in my sun-drenched childhood home was the first time in my adult life that I felt like I had let my younger self down. How disappointed would 9-year-old Amy, the girl who threw a coin in the Rockefeller Plaza fountain and made a promise that one day she would be on Saturday Night Live, be to learn that 26-year-old Amy had never even tried.

Somewhere between going to college and entering corporate America I stopped dreaming entirely and started adulting. I always thought of myself as the “Peter Pan” archetype, but … I had grown up. Suddenly, I became aware of how foolish my dreams sounded. The words felt silly and foreign coming out of my mouth. I subconsciously buried them away and dove deeper into the activities that allowed me to blend in and feel safe.

But those little dream embers held onto their glow. And opening my journals was the match they needed to resurface. 

There are few things worse than coming face to face with your dream journal and realizing that you let so much time slip by without going for it. So I have made a goal to use this blog as a means of tackling and documenting my bucket list without fear of judgment or failure.

Why ‘Partly Improvised’?

I titled this blog “Partly Improved” as an homage to younger (and current) Amy’s passion for comedy. Because the ONLY rule taught in improv comedy is to say “yes, and” to whatever life gives you.

And I cannot think of a better mindset than “yes, and” to tackle a bucket list with.

There are items on my bucket list that scare the heck out of me (looking at you, ‘performing stand-up comedy’). And there are others that I have no IDEA how to even approach tackling (…’producing lo-fi beats’??? Beekeeping?!?!). But that’s the point!

My theory is that life becomes WAY more exciting the moment you stop allowing perfectionism and insecurities get in the way.

This blog is a promise to myself to let go of fear and just say ‘Yes, and’ to the adventure!

And maybe… just maybe… I’ll inspire others to set off on their own adventures too.

So check out my bucket list, and let’s get going!

Amy