According to the urban dictionary, the term "Bucket List" comes from "kick the bucket," slang for dying. It's fun to think about what I might include on my bucket list. I especially love the idea that when I die, everything in my bucket will spill out, go back to the world, whether or not I attained, accomplished, or completed my list. Even wishes go back out into the world, once the bucket has been kicked, right?
I could get all abstract here, talk about the wishes that are part of my prayer routine every morning. I could describe the metta prayer of lovingkindness with which I wish for happiness, peace, good health and love for myself, my near and dears, people I have no connection with, and of course, all sentient beings. Those wishes are "spilled" into the world consciously and purposefully. I do it every day. They do not go in the bucket, though perhaps they should also be placed there. Who knows?
This morning is Christmas, a time when people who celebrate this festival exchange physical, material things: gifts. In order to dance in shamanic alignment with the energy of Christmas morning, I'm putting aside the purely abstract. Here's my bucket list. I admit it is abstract, but less so than metta prayer.
1. I want to see the northern lights from someplace very far north, like Iceland, or maybe while standing somewhere on the Canadian shield. That would be a dream come true.
2. You can't imagine how much I long to go to divinity school. I'd also like to go to cooking school. I am a lifelong student!
3. While I believe there is a book inside me waiting to be written, it's now clear that it is not a spy novel written within the span of one month! Ahem.
4. I would like to learn to ride a horse. They are such beautiful, powerful animals. I used to be afraid of them, but I think I could manage to be brave enough to learn how to at least go for a nice stroll on horseback. Wow.
5. I will turn 60 on 2/13 of 2013. My dream is to gather with women I love at a beautiful spa where we will receive all kinds of spa treatments. I imagine the group staying at a house where we can cook together, watch movies, play music and dance around inbetween spa treatments. Ideally this would take place somewhere on the Mendecino coast of California. What a way to turn 60, hey? Wow.
It isn't a long list, is it? Maybe more wishes will come to me; a bucket should be full, don't you think? Or ... maybe not, who knows?
What do you hope to do with the rest of your beautiful embodied life?
9 comments:
I've never made an actual Bucket List, but I've always wanted to go to Brazil/Argentina/Paraguay and see Iguassu Falls and Rio de Janeiro. There are other destinations I've always been curious about, too -- Easter Island, for example. Outside of travel, I'm not sure I have anything on my Bucket List!
Reya, I recognize the fence in that second photo from one of my D.C. visits! :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sreed99342/3083853177/
definitely the northern lights; riding horses; learning to cook; all yours sound great to me! i think i should write a list too; before any kicking happens;x
Steve - cool! Yeah, same fence. Love being on a wavelength as you know.
I would love to see your list, Val.
I always think of you and Hugh Grant this time of year (not a bad combination). I have Music and Lyrics here courtesy of Netflix and hope to watch it today (or at least this week).
I'd love to go horseback riding with you! Let's do it in 2012!
To be a life-long student (learner) is something I admire...
I adore horses too much to ride on them...I know they are bred to carry us on their backs, but still. I'm happy to give them an apple, a lump of sugar, and a good brushing...:)))))
Now I'm going to think about my own bucket list. Thank you for this great idea!
Thanks for this idea, Reya. I think I`ll use your idea and write a bucket list of my own ( I like that name).
Yes, never too late to ride a horse. In a Western saddle you can`t fall off. The world looks so different from a horseback, and you are close to sunrays and tree branches - incredible!
Close to sun rats eh? I'm going to do it.
I'm sure a wild horse wouldn't dream of allowing a rider, but those who do ride horses enter into a partnership with the animal. It's a powerful, ancient alliance between our species. A rider and her horse become more than a sum of their parts - or so I'm told. I believe it.
Sun RAYS - oh iPhone spell correct!
If you read Monty Roberts` book Shy Boy, you`ll see how a wild horse will allow a rider on his back (a fantastic book. The long version is the first book "Listening to Horses", also starring Queen Mom, James Dean and Liz Taylor, but mostly untamed horses and how to listen to them!)
Yes, I was wondering about sun rats, too.
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