Hi there. I, Dee Dee Pask (nee Hamilton), am embarking on a journey, and I need your help.
I’ve selected 29 people – some have known me from childhood, some have lived with me, some have worked with me, and some occasionally know me better than I know myself. If you are reading this letter, it is because you have, at some point, played an important part in my life. Some of these parts were fleeting, others a constant, but all considered milestones, and therefore you are someone whose input I value. A lot. You changed me. Heavy, huh?
I currently approach my 29th birthday. No biggie, really. But before this day – 22nd July, 2010 – I need you to send me back the enclosed stamped, self-addressed postcard. On this postcard, I need you to set me a challenge.
It is one thing to set yourself goals, but if I get you – someone that has known me very well, or that has inspired me in the past – to set one for me, perhaps wild doors will open. Perhaps I’ll be faced with things I’d never be brave enough to face alone, I’d just plain never thought of, or just amused by how you reflect on me. Either way, I’m suitably steeled and cautiously intrigued.
Here are my stipulations:
1. Be realistic. (As noble as it sounds, I’m not sure I have the necessary skills to cure cancer just yet.)
2. Be relatively gentle. (A request to learn to ride a horse, for example, is fine. However a request to ride a wild horse while naked and leaping through rings of fire into a canyon, will be considered, but probably declined.)
3. Be kind about the cost. (Traversing the length of America, for example, is expensive.)
4. Be tangible. (It’s all well and good to “strive to be a better person”, but it’s a bit vague, really.)
I will endeavour to the best of my ability, to fulfil all 29 of these challenges before my 30th birthday – 22nd July, 2011.
The 30th challenge is one I have set for myself. That is to write and publish a book based on my year of experimenting at your hands. Detailed and captured on paper. So choose wisely. I will not give any suggestion as to what you might write. I’m a metaphorical blank canvas.
I beg of you to think hard and do me this favour, and I will keep you updated on my progress of your challenge. After this point, you can be involved as much or as little as you like. I’ll probably want to talk to you about it at some point, but if you choose to opt out after the gauntlet is thrown, it’s totally up to you.
Any extra questions (or, if you’re just feeling friendly), you can get hold of me on [my email address], [my phone number] or the old fashioned way at [my address].
You are pretty awesome. Many thank yous. I await your instruction...
