That got me thinking: what's on my bucket list?
I've made a few bucket lists over the years. They're scattered in partially-filled journals, sitting on shelves in Maryland and boxes in Georgia.
I know, I know. It's lame. I've read the articles and think pieces about why you shouldn't make a bucket list. I've rolled my eyes at other people making them.
But you know what? As lame as they are, I still like making bucket lists.
Okay let's be honest. I like making lists in general. It's soothing and exciting and fun.
Don't judge me.
Moving right along.
As I walked the ball of fur I started thinking about the concept of bucket lists again. First I worried about the ball of fur's new hobby of picking up dirt clods, carrying them a short distance, and dropping them again. It's a weird phase she's in but since she's not eating them I'm gonna just let this run its course. Dogs man.
While I watched the ball of fur carry around her prized dirt clod I decided it was time to take stock of my life via bucket list once again. That's one of the beautiful things about bucket lists: they help you organize your goals and examine what's important to you in life.
So when we got home I grabbed a journal and started jotting down all of the things I would like to accomplish during my lifetime.
You know what struck me about that list?
How many items hadn't changed. I'm not talking about items that hadn't changed in 2 years.
I'm talking about items that hadn't changed since I was in second grade. The vast majority of them revolved around a similar theme: travel. Visit every continent. Visit as many countries as I can. Visit all 50 states. Hike the Grand Canyon. Hike a portion of the AT. See all the wonders of the world, both natural and ancient. Live in another country. Not study abroad. Really live.
But then there were some simple ones, like writing a novel, living in the mountains and owning horses. Oh and pay cash for a full priced pair of designer shoes. I don't know. It's just always been something I've dreamed of doing.
There were some new ones too, like learning to sew my own clothes and visiting every national park. Technically I can sew a kind of crappy boxy shaped skirt but I want to sew an entire outfit that no one can tell is homemade even when they look at it up close.
Something else struck me about my list. All the travel stuff came first. Falling in love and getting married fell somewhere in the middle. Planting a garden was somewhere near the bottom.
My resolution for 2017 was to get myself out of this rut I've been in for years. And you know what? This list may just help me do that. I've already done a little traveling this year, crossed a few new states & national parks off the list.
So here's to finishing that bucket list. Here's to traveling more. Here's to writing more.
Here's to not staying in a rut.
*all photos from my drive to Alaska this summer with my sister.
