My Non-Bucket List

~ humoringthegoddess

I have returned from a week of springtime ocean waves and beach in Destin, Florida. I am sunburn (tourist), jet-lagged (19 hours of driving one way), and sweetened out (Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets). I also had a marvelous time with my hubby, son, grandkids, and assorted other family members.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do was walk the beach somewhere. Florida supplied that magical moment, although, being a little stiff these days, I was also content to sit on my balcony and watch the crashing waves with a cup of coffee and a blanket.

Which got me thinking … was this a Bucket List moment?

I don’t have a Bucket List per se. There’s so many things I’d love to do the rest of my life that my bucket list would be more than 20 pages long.

Bucket lists are made of those things one wants to do before they die. I’ve known people who have put parasailing alongside kissing the Blarney Stone as Bucket List must-haves. Other lists include seeing the Southern Cross, eating macaroons in France and spotting a whale in the ocean.

All admirable goals.

There is something so final about completing one’s Bucket List, though, that makes me not want to make one.

I’ve never had one single overwhelming desire to do much of anything during my 70-odd years of living here on Earth. I have experiences in my past that I remember to this day that, looking back, could be counted on a Bucket List. I sat at the same table at Le Recrutement CafĂ© in Paris that I once saw in a photograph; I saw the King Tut mask when it visited the Art Institute in Chicago in 1977; I was at the Beatles in concert at Comiskey Park in Chicago in August of 1965.

These memories weren’t on any list — they were just opportunities that came my way through the years.

Yet standing on the beach watching sunset over the ocean was no doubt something I wanted to experience before I left this world. That moment of beauty, of cosmic connection, was something to experience. It was a different connection than watching moonrise over the fields or sitting on a tree stump in the middle of the woods, both of which I’ve done too.

My take on the whole Bucket List thing is that one needs to think about what experiences are actually possible and which will never happen. Honesty can be a downer, but I also believe in the lemons-to-lemonade theory.

You can cross things off of your Bucket List every day.

Can’t make it to the upcoming Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston? Attend a local art gallery’s exhibitions. Can’t fly to the Metropolitan Opera House to hear Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia? Listen to the Met’s Saturday Matinee Broadcasts on public radio. Can’t experience sunset on the Hawaiian shore? Find a quiet spot and watch the sun set over your own town or city.

I’m not downplaying Bucket Lists. I may start one just to narrow down what I’d like to see and do before I check out the big Taj Mahal in the sky.

Until then, I’m setting achievable Bucket List goals.

Don’t make a bucket list of things you’ll never do. Don’t wait to experience awe, inspiration, peace or nirvana. Make your own version of a Bucket List , and start to experience life NOW.

Do you have a Bucket List? What’s on your list?

 

 

 

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Published by humoringthegoddess

I am a writer of fantasy fiction that often surrounds middle-aged women. I am a married mother of two and granny to three, a BoHo Chic kinda gal. I am recently retired and busier than when I worked 9-5. But writing and blogging is my main game.

15 thoughts on “My Non-Bucket List”

  2. Wonderful words of wisdom, Claudia! I’m so happy for you that you were able to make this trip and be with family and experience the beach and the ocean!

    I don’t make bucket lists, but I do make memories. Here’s to your achievable Bucket List goals and to the memories we will make this year! Cheers!

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  4. I agree with you on the subject of a completed bucket list being rather unnerving! So, no I don’t have one! The only things I have often wished I could do though (that I have not done yet) is to travel to Maine and have lobster … and take a river cruise from Switzerland through France. A big mainliner cruise doesn’t float my boat. And if I don’t get to do those two things before I die, oh well! I have been blessed to do so much more!!

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    1. Yes yes!! In my wildest dreams I never thought of going to a wine tasting dinner at a winery in Tuscany… I mean, really! Once I found the possibility within my grasp I grabbed ahold of it with both hands. Bucket List or not. Big cruises don’t impress me either, but lobster in Maine is definitely on my non-bucket list too! Don’t give up!!!

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  5. Thoughtful post, and great advice. I have to give the whole Bucket List thing a bit more thought before I can comment on my own list. So far, it’s been a flash of awareness thing. When I have the flash, I know that what I am experiencing is special, intense and not easily repeatable. Examples: snorkling a coral reef in Belize, walking on a glacier in Alberta.

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    1. I think those “Bucket List” dreams are always within our grasp. Sometimes we just have to do it. Use savings money or get an extra job to cover our expenses, perhaps, but the most important part is believing you can do it. And if you can’t, find a reasonable substitution. And love it no matter what. Thank you for the inspiration to keep going!

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  6. A year ago I revisited the bucket list I made 20 years ago. Some things I eliminated, like seeing the Great Wall of China. At 70 something, that doesn’t seem like how I want to spend my limited money and energy. Instead of making resolutions in January, I decided to live more in the moment. It was wonderful to read this blog and see another woman my age reaching similar conclusions at this stage of life.

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    1. Yes yes! I am all for the dreams of Bucket Lists — many “make” them … and many “break” them. It’s easier to manifest the things that are within the realm of possibility and work on those few. I never ever thought I’d sit at Le Recruitment Cafe in Paris — never. But when my husband retired going to European cities one time was on HIS list. Surprise. I still have a few things I’d really like to do, but I’m not going to Bucket them. Just work on them. Thank you for encouraging me!!!

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