At a certain age, you’re supposed to make a bucket list–stuff you’re going to do before you kick the bucket. Then, later in life, you start doing the things on that list. Once upon a time, welding and juggling were on mine, but I’m not so interested in those things now. Not to say I won’t give them a try (again) at some point, but they are nowhere near the top.
Also at a certain age, you begin to realize there are things you are just never going to do. Still, you may feel like you’ve made enough of an effort that you can count those things as close enough. I’ll never be in the Olympics, but I have managed to do all the things that are part of the modern pentathlon; that is to say, over the course of my lifetime, I have been a pretty good swimmer, I’ve been a runner, and a pretty good shot with a pistol, I’ve ridden my horse over some largish jumps, and I was a passable foil fencer in my younger days. Among other common aspirations, I’ve acted in a couple of plays, and been on television more than once. I’ve shaken hands with some famous people, most notably to me, a Nobel laureate. I’ve written some articles, novels, and short stories. But the time has come to admit, some things I’ll never do, like through hiking one of the three great trails: the Pacific Crest, the Continental Divide, and the Appalachian (although I have at least set foot on the PCT, a bit of which is pictured here). It’s not looking good for writing a screen play either, but there’s still time.
My list is pretty long, and some things I may still accomplish, like seeing an active volcano and a glacier (visiting Iceland looks like the best bet for knocking out both of those). Other things just aren’t in the cards. A photography safari in Africa is looking iffy, although if I go to South Africa I can also visit penguins, so two tick marks on the list at once.
The good news is, I can experience a whole lot of bucket list things vicariously. We’re all vicarious athletes when the Olympics are broadcast. Thanks to You Tube, I can join through hikers on the three great trails and more trails besides. I visit with hundreds of cats on line, solve mysteries through books, do all manner of strange things through podcasts, visit the far reaches of the world through documentaries. But best of all, I write my ambitions, fantasies, dreams.
I always thought I would live on a farm. That didn’t work out, but through my stories, some of my characters have. While the idea of owning a little shop very much appealed to me at one time, I know next to nothing about retail, but one of my characters does and is pretty successful at running her little store.
Writing lets me live my life vicariously through my characters without having to personally suffer all the things I have to put them through to make the story interesting. Researching what I dream of and desire, then living out the fantasy of that life or adventure vicariously through my characters is being a lovely way to round out my bucket list.
Image: The Pacific Crest Trail. By Marilyn Evans