Should bucket lists kick the bucket?

Now Playing - In The Journey - Martin Sexton


This blog post was supposed to be about the organizational politics behind the Olympics....guess that'll be another day soon!

I've always thought the notion of creating a bucket list so people could see how awesome you thought you were was, well, rather lame. (See Slate's take on the phenom here). I mean, who DOESN'T want to backpack to Europe before they die? Learn seven languages?

Joe Queenan puts it so eloquently (ha!) in his article in the Wall Street journal--"a proper Bucket List should be more like seeing Radiohead at midnight on New Year's Eve at the North Pole beneath the aurora borealis on a quadruple bill with Björk, Willie Nelson and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Or seeing Celine Dion performing "My Heart Will Go On" underwater on the deck of the Titanic. Or the Lusitania."  My list of crazy things to do before I die is definitely different than my list of ways to life my life better--and some of those crazy things are most definitely contrary to the things on my other list.

I've found, however, that I have all these little scrap pieces of paper with hastily written notes/ideas on them--websites to check out on things I want to do and try, financial goals to fulfill, etc. They're tucked in the most arcane of places (I found one stuck to the back of my checkbook in my wallet, and one tucked into the side of a box of garbage bags..I remember writing that one in the checkout lane.) What I've determined is that a list of sorts can be helpful for helping you distill the ACTUAL goals you're trying to achieve or the harmony you're trying to find. You're not going to find the answers in the 20 seconds that it took you to bungee jump or ride a roller coaster, but as I always say (via Martin Sexton, of course), you're always in the journey...the process that it takes to get you there is where you really learn what you're made of.

Anyway, I put all of these notes that I've been finding together along with some things that I've been thinking about.....some of them I want to conquer immediately, while some of these will take forever. I see a definite theme emerging.

1.  Eat something I've grown myself.
2.  Write my ideal job description, then go from there.
3.  Spend a week social medialess.
4.  Rock full-fledged, chemical free, natural hair.
5.  Re-read the Bible.
6.  Learn how to fish.
7.  Sell at least 10% of the stuff I own.
8.  Write a letter every month to someone who has made an impact on me (good, bad,    
     living, not.)
9.  Reread at least 10 books from my high school reading list.
10. Get a heritage DNA test.
11. Learn how football works.
12. Re-visit NASA.
13. Fall back in love...with Louisiana.

I could now proceed to go through all of these and make them sound awesome, but the whole point is that they aren't supposed to be, to you. They're supposed to be, to me. Most of them aren't sexy and actually require work. That's the point. 


Have you looked at the things that you want to change in your life lately? Do you see a pattern? And are they things you should conquer long before you kick the bucket??