A friend of mine recently posted on her Facebook page, “Skydiving!!!  One more thing to mark off the Bucket List!”  and for some reason, it stuck with me.  I love the whole idea of a Bucket List.  Things to do before you die, things to strive for,  places to go.  It’s a great idea.  It gives us a sense of purpose; it helps us give our lofty dreams some sort of structure.   I started thinking, “Hmm, what would be on my Bucket List?”  I did some Googling – is that a word?  It should be – and stalked some other people’s lists and oh, holy baby Jesus, you people have some GOALS.  Hiking Everest and ziplining in the Everglades and saving starving children and starting charities – amazing.  My list?  Not quite so lofty.  And even as I wrote mine down, my mind immediately came up with 400 reasons of why that particular idea was the dumbest one I’d ever had.

But I’m not giving up.  It’s my Bucket List and I can do with it what I want.  So I still wrote out my list, and then let the rational part of my brain yell at the hopeful, creative side.  The result is that now I think maybe not everyone needs to make a Bucket List and some of us should probably just be happy for every day that goes by in which we don’t get hit by a bus or shit on by a pigeon.

Courtney’s (Sort Of) Bucket List

Volunteer at an Animal Shelter

• Thought: I love cats!  I have time! Ever since my stupid Potato cat went missing and I visited every shelter in the south suburbs looking for him, my heart breaking at these poor kitties in cages, I have wanted to volunteer and spend time loving on these neglected animals.
• Counter Thought: Are you even serious right now?  First of all, at that one shelter you went to looking for that idiot cat, there was a fucking PIG there that had just had babies.  Can you see yourself caring for a PIG, Courtney?  Think about it.  Also, remember that one time you went to the pet store when you had PMS and almost came home with an ugly dog, even though you don’t even like dogs all that much?  Let me paint you a picture of how this ends – you, fourteen cats, and a piglet.  Alone.

See the Northern Lights

• Thought: That would be so amazing to see.  I hear Alaska is a great place to see them – I could kill two birds with one stone!  I mean, who ever goes to see Alaska?  Plus I’d see the amazing lights!
• Counter Thought: You know what else is in Alaska?  A raging drinking problem.  And darkness.  Given your love of beer and the fact that not seeing sunlight for more than 48 hours makes you homicidal – this is not the place for you.  Any lights you see are likely going to be hallucinations.  Why don’t you try for an eclipse or super moon here in your home state, yeah?  We’ll get you a telescope or something.

Live in a Continuously Organized, Orderly Space In Which the Corners of Baseboards are Always Clean

• Thought: This isn’t impossible.  My mom does it.  My sister does it.  It’s likely just a simple system – a routine I need to get into.  I bet if I do a complete overhaul, I can keep everything spic-and-span and never have a heart-stopping panic attack again when someone drops by unexpectedly!
• Counter Thought:  Really?  It’s just a routine you haven’t quite picked up in the past 20 years?  Sure.  I wasn’t going to do this, but let me remind you of what happened last week.  Remember? DO YOU??  You got a new towel off of the shelf and then had to take a whole new shower after using it because it was covered in cat hair.  Why don’t you concentrate on never, EVER letting that happen again before you start scrubbing baseboards with a toothbrush.

Do One of Those Walks/Bike Rides For Charity

• Thought:  Why not?  I could help people and get exercise all in one.  It looks like such a rah-rah good time, and for such a good cause!
• Counter Thought: Are you even fucking kidding me right now?  You bribe people on a weekly basis to go places for you so you don’t have to walk up your stairs more than twice a day.  Also, not to be the bearer of bad news, but giving up cigarettes did not magically take 50 pounds off of your frame, give you the gift of balance, or shrink your giant head so that it will fit in a normal-sized bike helmet.  This one’s a super nice idea, but let’s keep it on your level.  Try a nice short walk at a local high school – I know you, you’re going to sign up for that 3 Day Walk and you know damn well you don’t like to do ANYTHING for more than 45 minutes at a time and you’re simply setting yourself up for disappointment.

There was more, but one can only imagine what my subconscious revolted with when the word “Skydiving” crossed my mind, so I had to stop because I was hurting my own feelings.  Regardless, I still think it’s a good list and am standing by it.  What’s on yours?

It’s Still a Bucket