#35 Buckets

I used to write the things I had to do in my agenda, until I moved from paper to digital To Do lists. Thoughout my life I’ve planted trees, had children, bought houses, adopted dogs and written books, but I’ve never listed what I wanted to do, which now, at my many years of age, seems weird and almost unbelievable.

I never had a bucket list.

Last New Year’s Eve, I decided I wanted to do things differently, and then, busy looking for food and drinks, I forgot about it. How ridiculous is it to forget registering our dreams?

Weeks later, talking to my partner, he told me how sad it had been for him that same night. He, the one who always has a moment to stop and think, couldn’t do it. He saw the hours pass by and couldn’t pause to say thank you, or I want, or I will. None of us did what we wanted. The plans did not work.

So, what do you do when things (life) start to derail? Do you embrace it, or do you plan again? We did something else: we improvised.

Instead of forcing us to write what we wanted to do, we forced ourselves to do something we had dreamed about for years. After a casual conversation, we booked the tickets for our dream vacation, and that’s how a couple months later, we went to Japan: because we were tired of waiting for things that could happen (or not), be perfect (or not), live up to expectations… well, you get it, right?

I haven’t managed to write my bucket list yet. If I ever succeed to do such thing, I might start listing the things I’ve done to remind me of all the good I’ve seen and lived, and if I don’t… who cares?