THE ENCHANTMENT of a
BUCKET LIST By Judi Moreo
E
very year I make a new bucket list, and I put 21 things on it. Most years, at the end of the year, there are a few items checked off and several more to do. So, I revise the list, take off the things I’ve completed, and add new items to bring the number back to 21. This year I shocked myself and completed all twenty-one items. Now what am I supposed to do? Kick the bucket or make a whole new list? I decided to start my list for 2019, so I wrote in Item #1 Swim with Dolphins. Then on December 28, 2018, I had the opportunity to Swim with Dolphins. Should I say no and put it off to do in the New Year, or should I go for it? I decided to go for it and call it my Bucket List Bonus. It was what I got to do as a bonus for having completed my list. Making this list and updating it every year has given me some wonderful experiences. I’ve traveled to fabulous places, met incredible people, spoken to audiences that I targeted, and completed some very meaningful projects. But when you’ve done almost everything you have ever wanted to do, what now? Guess it is time to stretch the imagination. We could visit new places we’ve heard of that sound and look interesting, move to another country for a year, learn to speak another language, photograph new subjects, run a marathon, write a memoir, eat in every restaurant in the city, take up painting, learn to play a musical instrument, write an article for a magazine, grow a garden, act in a play, learn something new every day, lose weight, assemble a race car, arrange flowers, get a pet, go rock hunting, learn to make jewelry, volunteer at the hospital, become a vegetarian, study tai chi. Is that 21? Can we fit all that in on top of our already busy life? Actually, that’s not really important. Your list doesn’t have to have 21 things like mine. It just needs to have the most important things that you would love to do before you kick the bucket. Use your creative thinking skills and trust your intuition. These must be the things that you want—not what someone else wants, or what they want for you. This is your life. Put down the things you’ve wished for and dreamed about. For years, I wanted to go to Tanzania and fly in the hot air balloon safari over the Serengeti when the wildebeest were migrating. Every year I would be sure it was still on the list. This past year, my girlfriend was going to Kenya on a tour and invited me along. I told her I would go if the trip included a few days in Tanzania and a hot air balloon safari. Being very resourceful, she found a way to add it to the trip at an affordable price. So, I went. It was wonderful — the all-time best adventure of my life (well, right up there with swimming with dolphins). I even found a very prestigious art gallery that was interested in my art. Who would have guessed?
Jan/Feb 2020 | VIEW ON MAGAZINE |
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