A Girl and Her Bucket

We've heard the phrases, watched the movies, and read the books. We've made our own, torn it up, revamped it, tossed it to the side, thrown away in the frustration of the likelihood that we'll never accomplish the whole damn thing. Yes, the list that makes us feel adventurous when we aren't, poor, and young and old at the same time: The Bucket List.

This was the hype a few years back: make a list of 30 things to do before you turn 30 list. 30 before 30.  That name always bothered me. Actually, it infuriates me. Why would my list of adventurous undertakings end when I turn 30? Why the ridiculously early expiration date? Does this mean I'll have to store my backpack in the attic, where, years later, it will be discovered by my children. An antique covered in dust. They'll wonder to each other, "was their mother really a...hippie of some sorts? Did she go places? Do fun stuff? Surely not. Not this old decrepit woman who makes me eat vegetables." Does it mean that when I'm thirty my age will sentence me to a life of normalcy. Will my husband steer me towards the kitchen and say, "Hon, I'm hungry. I sure could use a sandwich." (Oh sweetheart, wherever and whoever you are, we both know this is a comical situation, and very unlikely to go down in our household, as you well know.)

So with my list I've put no age limit. Nor will I think that marriage or family means the end of my conquering of the list. (Neither should you!) My list changes. Frequently. But that is the beauty of it. It's not supposed to make me feel like a failure when I become overwhelmed at trying to accomplish everything, or too old, or too poor. I hope that instead it will spur me on towards continually discovering the wonderment the world and all her cultures hold. A challenge of sorts. Not one to wave in front of friends like showing off a passport that has been tattooed with stamps. A challenge to myself.  To dream aloud, to create art, and be surrounded by beauty.

 So no, my list isn't supposed to make me look fantastically creative. It was created with the notion that life begins in the unknown, outside of comfort. I can challenge my preexisting thoughts, expectations, and ideas about people, cultures, food, bathrooms, and what have you.

If you don't have a list, make a list. Let it encourage you to live life boldly and with a childlike curiosity.

Gotta Go. Gotta Do.

Read an original poem at an open mic night.

Scotland

Paris, France

Lake Como, Italy

Cambridge, Oxford, London, Bath, Cliffs of Dover, England

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Complete my masters.

Figure out what I want my masters in.

Buy something for myself at Tiffany’s

Arnensee Lake, Switzerland

Learn how to jar pickles.

Take a ballet class.

Rock of Cashel, Ireland

Perform in a play.

Go surfing.

Learn to make Granny’s Red Velvet Cake

Sweden

Prague, Czech Republic

Krabi, Thailand

India

New Zealand

Master another language.

Cape Town, South Africa

Hug a redwood.

Norway

Cambodia

Maui, Hawaii

Dresden, Germany

Write for a travel magazine.

 And if that doesn't inspire you, then perhaps this?