As we celebrate the turning of a New Year, many follow the tradition of establishing a resolution, or a goal, to hopefully meet in the next year.  After a New Orleans artist lost someone close to her, she asked herself a larger question - what she wants before she dies. 

That question, and its greater meaning of what is important to us, went public and took a life of its own. 

In 2011, artist and urban planner Candy Chang painted the wall of an abandoned house in her neighborhood with chalkboard paint and stenciled it with a grid of the sentence  “Before I die I want to ______.”  Anyone who walked by could use the chalk to write directly on the wall and answer the question.

According to the project’s website, the wall makes us think about what is important to us as individuals as well as what is important to the community.

The first wall lasted eight months, until the house was sold. Walls has since been created in communities across the country and globe, including places as far as Kazakhstan and South Africa. 

The project provides free guide and templates for those who would like to introduce the concept into their own community.  

What would you write?  Here is what some said on the Middletown Patch Facebook wall.

“Witness world peace”  - Mike Barbas

“Win a hotdog eating contest” - Elaine Cruz

“Enjoy fruitcake again”  - Charlie Go

“Aee my son as happy and healthy as he could ever be”  - Karen Cates

How about you?  Before I die I want to ______.   Fill in the blank in the comments section below.