Day 174 – September 28, 2014
Bucket list
Many years ago, I wrote a bucket list. I expected long pages of wishes, but the list totaled a mere 53 items. Since drafting the bucket list, I have accomplished some items and plan for more.
On my 42nd birthday, I reconsider that bucket list and draft a new one. Have my intentions changed in six years? Not really. For the list below, I put a “+” by the unfinished items I still want to complete and a “-“ by the goals accomplished.
What I Want to Do With My Life (the new list):
Family
- (+) Get married
- (+) Have/take care of a kid
- (-) Surprise my parents for their birthdays
- (-) Make furniture with my Dad
- (-) Bake a birthday cake
- (+) Take my nieces out for dinner unaccompanied
- (+) Take my brothers to Burning Man
Career / Money
- (+) Be someone’s boss
- (+) Direct a project
- (-) Invent something that goes into a product
- (+) Buy property
Side Jobs
- (+) Teach a course
- (+) Volunteer with the Peace Corps, Americorps, or Habitat for Humanity
- (+) Be a park ranger
- (-) Be a tour guide
- (+) Own a coffee shop or bar
- (-) Chef at a restaurant
- (+) Sell something I made
- (+) Work on a farm
Athletic / Experience
- (-) Run a marathon
- (+) Race a triathlon
- (+) Skydive
- (+) Scuba
- (+) Surf
- (-) Snowboard
- (+) Ride a horse
- (-) Go up in a hot-air balloon
- (-) Ayahuasca
- (-) Go on a silent, overnight retreat
- (-) Get in a sensory-deprivation tank
- (-) …
- (+) …
Travel
- (+) Visit 6 of 7 continents. I’m missing Africa and Antartica.
- (+) Visit all 50 states. I’m missing 6: Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alaska.
- (+) Visit the scenic splendor of the Galapagos or Costa Rica35.
- (+) Visit the spiritual centers of Nepal, Tibet, or India
- (+) The Pyramids
- (+) The Taj Mahal
- (+) The Great Wall
- (-) Rio
- (+) Hike the Appalachian or Pacific Crest Trail
- (+) Take an overnight cruise, even if on a sailboat
- (+) See the Northern Lights
- (+) Attend the Kentucky Derby
- (+) Attend the Olympics
- (+) Attend a Presidential Inauguration
Art / Skill
- (+) Slam poetry
- (-) Weld
- (-) Make a fire sculpture
- (+) Be a VJ
- (+) Brew beer
- (-) Write a book.
- (+) Build furniture. Learn how to work wood.
Community
- (+) Play in a small band
- (+) Throw a large party
- (+) Start a monthly/weekly event
- (+) Plant a tree
- (+) Give a speech in a public forum