There’s nothing like a bucket list to help you take stock of what you’ve done (like watch whales in the wild) and what you want to do (like tend to a garden). I’m not surprised to see that the majority of my list resonates with my favorite quote: “Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things.” I encourage everyone to create a bucket list, and reflect on it from time to time and actively pursue crossing some items off. After all, life is short.
Here are sixty things I’d like to do before I die:
1. Make a salad from ingredients picked solely from my own garden
2. Pay for someone else’s groceries and tell them to pay it forward when possible
3. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando
4. Take my mom to Disney World
5. Visit Australia
6. Reach my goal weight of 150 pounds
7. Make a perfect soufflé
8. Read/nap in a field of flowers
9. Visit Portland, Oregon (and Voodoo Doughnuts)
10. Learn to knit
11. Take a road trip with Mike in his ’51 Buick
12. Eat wings with Mike in Buffalo, NY
13. Visit Hawaii and rent a surfboard, watch the sun set, watch the surfers at Waimea Bay
14. Help someone achieve an item on their bucket list
15. See the Northern Lights in person
16. Plant a tree and watch it grow as my children do
17. Race in a 5-k four times a year until I die
18. Write a memoir about my mom and have it published
19. Go on a picnic
20. Encourage people to write a bucket list
21. Visit Japan (Buddhist monasteries, see cherry blossoms, Tokyo)
22. Organize a softball game with friends
23. Get my Bachelors degree
24. Spend an entire weekend watching every Harry Potter movie back to back
25. Have a marvelous garden of fruits, flowers and vegetables
26. Climb a tree and read in it
27. Own a hammock. Use it all the time.
28. Learn how to whistle
29. Run on a beach during low tide
30. Read my child/children all the Harry Potter books
31. Stay at the Bed and Breakfast Angels by the Sea, with my mom
32. Teach children about gardening in my own garden, have weekend classes during the spring for neighborhood children and bake with ingredients from the garden. Most importantly, I must wear overalls.
33. Have a compost pile
34. Help to throw my mom a 5-year cancer survivor bash, and ten year, and fifteen year and so on
35. Play with baby monkeys, gorillas, chimps, whatever – preferably in the wild or at a sanctuary
36. Hang out with my brother Doug on a different continent
37. Go on a short vacation all by myself
38. See and feel the Pacific Ocean
39. Learn yoga so that I can practice independently
40. Spend a day in Central Park with Mike reading, talking, picnicing and playing catch
41. Go on a vacation with just my best friend
42. Sit in a tube and float down the DE River
43. Visit China. Eat real Chinese food and visit the Great Wall
44. Adopt a sick or unwanted dog
45. Stop smoking forever
46. Give up my seat more often on the train
47. Close a bar with Mike (like old times)
48. Eat lamb, duck, foie gras
49. Spend time traveling through New England in autumn
50. Visit Salem, MA in October
51. Go on a cruise around Alaska
52. Make love out doors and behind a waterfall
53. Visit Forks, WA and other areas around Olympic Peninsula
54. Run a race with my brother and sister-in-law
55. Collect seashells with a child
56. Wear skinny jeans
57. Get an outrageous 1950’s dress, have my hair and make-up done and have a photo shoot with Mike’s car
58. Own a home
59. See Pearl Jam live
60. Forgive a childhood friend
2 comments:
That's a beautiful list, many of which I would have on mine--I guess we're even more alike that one might think. ;-)
When you first mentioned yesterday on FB the "bucket list" I began thinking about what mine would be, and felt sort of depressed in the sense that it didn't contain any "big" things like "become famous for something" or anything like that. The thoughts were all on a smaller scale, yet, at the same time, had intention of somehow having minor little impacts in the world. I believe your list captures that perfectly. I feel less depressed now about it, as I feel that perhaps I am going in the right direction--I'm not striving for anything big, just a happy little humble life that I can be proud of and know I'm doing something good for at least one person.
I also realize that I've done many of the things that I'd like to, that I've used my 20s to travel a little (and can do more), to explore, be adventurous, and take advantage of opportunities provided to me. I'm a very lucky person.
I hope you get the chance to accomplish everything and then some, and I hope I get to watch your experiences unfold. You are special and deserve it all and no matter what, you've already made a difference--you inspire me!
Thank you so much, Jackie. I also was concerned that my list didn't have more professional achievements or any desire for fame or fortune, but then I realized it only confirmed my desire for a simple, fulfilling life. I find myself fortunate I do not want anything too crazy or outlandish in my future. I think the odds of my being happy are rather high. ;-) It sounds like yours are as well and I have no doubt that you will make a difference.
Thank you for your kind words. We're both very lucky people with lots yet to do......
Post a Comment