A bucket list
The other day, I was invited to fill out a “bucket list” by a friend on Facebook. For those who don’t know, a bucket list is a list of things to do before you die, or kick the bucket, as it were. This list wasn’t written by my friend, so she deserves no blame for its relatively superficial nature. Many of its items were travel-related for Americans, such as “have you ever been to Canada? Have you ever walked on the Great Wall? Seen the Statue of Liberty?” so they didn’t seem like such a big deal to me.
While those are all nice places, they’re all accessible to someone with enough money to get there. Also, it’s not a given that travel-related experiences leave a lasting impression on you, or drive you to make the world a better place. Now, staying for a year in a foreign country teaching English … that would be an experience. However, experiences like that aren’t available to everyone, so I left them out of my list.
I also left out “tasting a 12-year-old single malt”, “sat in the pits at the Monaco Grand Prix”, and “seeing your baby smile at you for the first time”, since those activities may not appeal to everyone, or may disappoint those who are incapable of performing them.
So with the previous rambling in mind, here’s my list. Hopefully, if you’ve done these things, you’ll feel pretty good when you think about them. If you’ve done them all, well then, feel free to feel good some more. Or if you’ve done them once, feel free to do them again.
Have you ever …
… been comfortably, calmly, confidently in love?
… enjoyed a live show that you still remember fondly?
… made a little kid laugh?
… studied a foreign language out of interest?
… taught a class or workshop where you cared about the outcome?
… pulled an all-nighter and seen the sun come up?
… held someone’s hand during their last moments of life?
… gone for a brisk walk on a beautiful morning?
… broken a bad habit for good?
… made yourself useful to a grieving person?
… meditated for longer than fifteen minutes in one sitting?
… changed a flat tire?
… successfully built a simple piece of furniture? (IKEA doesn’t count)
… ridden a tandem bicycle?
… moved a friend out of a house or apartment?
… been awed by a work of nature?
… eaten from your own garden?
… baked a batch of cookies?
… learned to play a musical instrument?
… done something you thought you couldn’t?
… recovered a physical ability you’d thought you’d lost?
… stopped to smell some flowers? (and it was your idea, not your companion’s)
… gone out of your way to attend a Remembrance Day (or Memorial Day) service?
… whistled a tune in public?