Since I graduated in 2009 my life has been different from what I planned. My father passed away in summer 2010 when I was 22 and losing him was the most devastating thing I have ever gone through. My father was full of spirit and passion and had accomplished so much in his 58 years of life. In the days and months following his death I didn’t do myself any favors – I drank too much, I quarrelled too much, I regretted too much, I cared too little about myself. I cut out everything in my life that was too complicated or emotionally draining. In a way, it was good for me to have some time where I wasn’t constantly pushing myself, constantly focused on what to do next. But I know my father, a man filled with curiosity about the world around him, would have wanted me to continue to live my life and so I pulled out a bucket list I had written when I was 14 and reworked it into the below list.
Writing a Bucket list can be one of the most satisfying and eye-opening lifevestments you can do for yourself (though checking something off your list is even more satisfying).
How to Write a Bucket List
1. Add Diversity. As they say, “Variety is the spice of life” so be sure to include a variety of activities and interests in your list. This helps develop a well-rounded vision for what you want to accomplish in your life. Also be sure to include goals you can accomplish during different periods and decades of your life. One that I added to my list that I am excited about is running a 5K when I am 50.
2. Take Your Time. Rome wasn’t built in a day – your bucket list shouldn’t be written in an hour. Bucket lists are works in progress so revisit and add items often. Really commit to something before putting it on the list.
3. Add Anything Important (no matter how small). Some of you may disagree with me on this but I believe a bucket list is more fun if you are using it often and constantly adding to it. Adding small goals can build momentum and can help you develop more long-term goals. Just this past weekend I made my first pumpkin pie ever and was able to check that off the list!
4. Do Your Research. Read other bucket lists and share yours. Discovering someone else’s bucket list can help you define and refine yours and sharing your list can help give direction to others. Be sure to post links on this page to your lists!
Bucket lists are my favorite lifevestment. They allow us to cultivate our lives and focus on what we care most about. I learn so much about myself every time I add something to the list so I encourage everyone to try writing one.
Ashley’s Bucket List (as of October 24th, 2011)
- Explore Angkor Wat
- Memorize Poe’s “The Raven”
Be a valedictorianSee the Eiffel Tower- Own a farm
- See St. Paul’s Cathedral
Discover nutellaLearn to love earl grey teaRead all of Harry Potter- Write my personal fashion style guide
- Memorize at least one new recipe every year
- Visit Lyon, France at least twice
Run a 5K- Become a beekeeper
Train a dog from a puppyChop off all of my hair (or at least 10 inches)- Never dye my hair in my 20s or when I turn gray
- Run a 5K when I’m 50
- Explore the English countryside
- Grow a flower garden
- See King Lear performed live
- Go to a book signing
- Give birth to my child
Learn to do a French manicure- Get married
- Never get divorced (and stay true to my family)
Eat at Avec in ChicagoEat at Gibsons in ChicagoDo a traditional british afternoon tea serviceGo on the Jack the Ripper walk in London- Give a large donation to a charity (animal rescue or an arboretum)
- Go to New York Fashion Week
- Read every work by Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen
- See every film version of Jane Eyre (as available)
- Collect Department 56 Dickens Village houses
- Collect old books and 1st editions
- Keep up Dad’s travel pin map (put a pin on every part of the map you have visited)
Be the sole photographer for a weddingPerfect my postureGraduate college (magna cum laude)- Pay off student loans
- Have a zero-energy home
- Visit Salem, MA
- See every episode of The Office (US Edition)
- See every episode of Mad Men
See Buffalo Springfield from the concert pit- Wear a fascinator
See Bizet’s Carmen at the Lyric Opera- Learn to bake at least ten different Christmas cookies
- Write a novel
See Lady Jane Grey’s grave at the Tower of London- Learn to make felt food
Read Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children- Meet Patrick Stewart (Love him!)
- Visit Tokyo and see the cherry blossoms
- Do dim sum in Hong Kong
- See a temple in Bali
- Start a charm bracelet
Read Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land- Read Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
See Dyck’s The Arnolfini PortraitSee every episode of Battlestar Galactica- Read Byatt’s Possession
Read Byatt’s Little Black Book of Stories- Own an embosser
- Visit Iceland
- Collect vintage absinthe spoons
See the Taj Mahal and buy a marble souvenirLearn to love Indian foodMake the 1905 salad from The Columbia RestarauntRead Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog- Drive an Aston Martin
Date someone not of U.S.nationalityRead Marquez’s One Hundred Years of SolitudeVisit Buckingham PalaceVisit Versailles- Visit Belgium and eat at least ten different types of chocolate
- See Positano, Italy
- Visit South Africa
- Go on a cruise
- Climb up to Macchu Picchu
- Do a cart-wheel in the South American salt plains
- Go zip-lining
- Visit China and stand on the Great Wall
- See Stonehedge and other Neolithic buildings in England including a stone with a hole
Visit Paris during the springtime when it rainsRide the TGV through France and see Roman ruins- See the Parthenon and take a cruise through the Greek Isles
- Take a cruise down the Nile
- Go on a yoga/meditation retreat
- Go on a mountain trek
- Buy a house in the woods with lots of trees
- Make homemade French onion soup
- Have lots of pets
- Eat at a café in Venice while it rains
- Eat food off a large leaf
- Sleep in a treehouse
- Memorize an entire Bollywood song
- Memorize grandpa’s biscuit recipe
- Don’t eat beef for 50 years (haven’t since 2003)
- Get a custom coat made
- Learn to fire a handgun
Study abroad in IndiaLearn to make pumpkin pie
After re-reading this list I can’t help but feel like many of the things on here are superficial and naive. But that’s the beauty of the bucket list – it’s constantly evolving with you.
Ashley
Here are some other fantastic posts on Bucket Lists:
http://inthedarkofthenight.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/bucket-list/
http://debsanswers.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/what-is-a-bucket-list/
This is great!! I’m sorry about the loss of your dad… I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been. It’s great you appreciate the value of life now though and I’m sure your dad is so proud of you for pursuing your dreams 🙂
I haven’t created a full blown bucket list before. I often create and update short and long term goals, but never a full blown, in my wildest dreams, bucket list. I think I may do that soon. Thanks for the push.
wow, thanks for thinking my list is fantastic 🙂 I love your bucket list some of the stuff nade me think “why didn’t I think of it?” Keep up the good work
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Great list.. you are right.. you need direction, you need dreams.
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Lovely post! 🙂
http://theladyisin.wordpress.com/ladymikhaelageorgette/the-ladys-bucket-list/
Now you’ve inspired me to write a bucket list.
I find the following items on yours of special interest;
absinthe spoons, I didn’t know of collecting antique ones. I have one new one
Iceland, Love Iceland!
Stonehenge, yes please!
Parthenon, I spent 3 weeks in Greece with my sister and OMG was it all spectacular, especially the Parthenon, it made me cry.
Home in the woods, 40 acres for the past 25 years, hard work – lots of beauty (hundreds of basil plants in summer)
a custom coat, do you know of Katwise on Etsy?
Be well,
S.
I can only imagine how amazing the Parthenon was! And I am very jealous of your home in the woods. I plan on living in Chicago for a few more years and then settling on a small farm to try and grow my own food – I’m sure all the hard work is worth it! And I’ve never heard of Katwise – I’ll need to check them out! Thanks for all the wonderful comments!
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Wow! Reading your story was like looking in the mirror for me. I also lost my Dad when I was 24 just before graduating. Directly after graduting I moved halfway across the world to teach English in South Korea. I pretty much hated my first year here because everything seemed impossible – adapting to a new culture and new way of life on top of trying to come to terms with how my family had changed made me a very withdrawn person. I hated social events and felt drained at the thought of an evening out with friends…. listening to everyday banter about what I felt were meaningless, petty things drove me crazy. I’ve just decided to teach a lesson on writing your own bucket list with my adult students – and I hope its going to be as motivating as I think yours is! Thanks for an awesome list – I’ve added a few of yours to mine! 🙂