If you had only a year to live, what would you do? Even if you expect to live another 20 or 50 years, you have to start somewhere. Yesterday at Not Quite Ally McBeal, Ronda Levine gave her bucket list. The idea comes from the 2007 film, The Bucket List, in which two men dying of cancer (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) go on a world tour to fulfill their dreams before they kick the bucket. I have not seen the film, but it set me to thinking. So here is my bucket list:
- Go birding in the Costa Rican rainforest
- Raise chickens
- Visit Machu Picchu, Chichen-Itza or Teotihuacan
- Finish a novel and have it published
- Explore a coral reef
- Publish a cookbook in Mom’s memory
- Grow fruit trees
- Have a grand piano and time to play it
- See the Canadian Arctic
- Hike the Bruce Trail
- Throw a big party to celebrate an important anniversary with Danny
- Learn tapestry weaving
- Make a living as a nature writer
- Build a secret garden
- Correspond with a great poet or novelist
- Give a reading at Eden Mills Writers’ Festival
- Drive across the Prairies
- See Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 performed by a world class orchestra
- Mentor a young, queer writer
- Visit Florence and Venice
I did not know how long it was supposed to be so I aimed for 15 items, but some important dreams did not fit. Truthfully, achieving half of these would give me a fulfilling life. That leaves some flexibility.
So what is your bucket list?
1. Live in Italy for at least three months.
2. Live in Buenos Aires for at least three months and TANGO every day.
3. Have a party and dance until dawn.
4. Go to a yoga retreat.
5. Do watercolors every day.
This is a challenging question! I look at my list and think: some of these are within my reach right this moment. No reason not to do at least 3, 4 and 5. And no reason not to start planning for 1 and 2!
Interesting list, Barb! I would consider replacing my last point with your first one. Living somewhere gives a special knowledge, and I have never lived more than a three hours’ drive from where I was born. Most of the things on my list are fairly out of reach at this time, so they would take considerable planning. A handful are just really big projects I could start anytime.