Why a "Bucket List" instead of a "to-do" list?

If you don't know what a "Bucket List" is, go out immediately and rent the movie of that same title.

Lot's of people are doing "bucket lists", and that's a great thing. But there's a catch.

For this tool to be really, really effective, you can't act as if you had all the time in the world.

You have to act like Morgan Freeman's character: as if you had about a year to live.

This has several advantages over a vision board or a "manifest list". For one, it eliminates vagueness. In my experience, vagueness is the hand-maiden of procrastination.

Try this one and just let it sit: "Get my Violin chops back up and audition for the symphony"

When do you suppose that will actually happen? Someday? Maybe?

Never?

Now try this: "By my theoretical mortality date of 7/11/11, I will have learned and polished the usual audition materials: A Mozart violin concerto (1st movement) , An 19th century concerto (1st movement), and the required orchestral excerpts for a 2nd Violin/Substitute player."

Hard to wiggle out of that one, huh? You're either gonna do it, or you're gonna say "forget it: I'm not THAT darned interested. What else can I do?"

Or else "Well that sucks, and it detracts time from my other items. What do I really WANT out of that item? To play for remunerative pay? To just play in an orchestra? Bragging rights? How can I get those, and still fit in blogging, NaNoWriMo, bunjee jumping, Scriptfrenzy etc?"

You also avoid new age guilt trips. Do, or do not do. That's the creed of "Bucketland". No guilt if you don't "draw" it to yourself. No guilt for not "dreaming big". No guilt for failing to "clarify your values" - although a sense of impending mortality IS wonderfully clarifying. No guilt for not forking over $100+ dollars to hear some borderline Schizophrenic channel the Ascended Master Rama Llama Dingh Dongh.

Abundance thinking? I got your abundance mantra: "You can't take it with you". With that in mind, a studio apartment with just enough food can be an abundance. Wow! It's magic!

Oops, sorry, "Magick". Always gotta get the k in. Otherwise, we might look like humans that bleed when we're cut. No better than the juggalos.

You may now address me as "Lord Raven Myst".


Oh, and don't worry about the state of your inner child. Tell him if he whines one more time, you're spanking his butt, and taking him home to grandma's. Then you're gonna make this trip on your own. You don't have time for this nonsense.

Besides, when the reality of your mortality hits...you're likely to need a good stiff drink.