There is no better time to review that bucket list. And not for the reason you think.
You probably thought, like I did, that the positive spin on this quarantine would be finally getting some indoor activities done. Crossing off those 100 albums to hear before you die. Reading the books gathering dust in your bathroom. Cleaning out the monsters under your bed.
But before I took action, I got curious about the term "bucket list". Would you believe we only started using in 2007? Why? Because Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman made a movie about two terminally-ill old farts getting shit done. That's when it began!
The Bucket List was a good name for a feel-good movie about death, but the concept goes way deeper. Nearly two thousand years ago, the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca broke it down like this, "This is our big mistake: to think we look forward to death. Most of death is already gone. Whatever time has passed is owned by death."
Damn. That Seneca was a cold motherfucker. I bet he got a lot done too.
With Seneca's blessing, we should be tackling our buckets lists now. Not because we're bored at home, but because now is the only time we have. And cause we're bored at home.
Author/entrepreneur Derek Sivers explained it in the light of goals: "We often think of goals as something that exists to shape our future, but a good goal is something that drives you to take action in the present moment. Not to get new agey, but the present moment is all we really have, right? The past is the term that we call our memories. The future is the term that we call our imagination. The thing that’s really real is the present moment. So if a goal doesn’t change your actions in the present moment, then it’s not a good goal, no matter how impressive it seems or how nice it is in theory. If it doesn’t make you take immediate action then it’s not a good goal, and I find that getting rid of goals is freeing."
Of course, your bucket list is not meant to be finished. There is only so much we can do from the couch. And it's not meant to be a daredevil résumé. It's about always remembering what Kanye West said, "My presence is a present, kiss my ass".
Okay, author Joseph Campbell might have said it a bit better: "People say that what we are seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive."
It's not about binging Tiger King on Netflix. Or baking desserts to distract you and your significant other through the week. It's what those experiences bring - endless evenings laughing over chocolate cake and cursing that bitch Carole Baskin.
The experience of being alive is about taking it all in, and it's about the love we get to share. Even when we can't be together.
With all that being said, let's check out some of the best stuff I found this past week:
Almost an antidote to the endless bucket list is Ryan Holiday's sobering piece - How Does It Feel To Get Everything You Ever Wanted?
Louis CK quietly released his latest special, Sincerely Louis CK, on his website this weekend. The Internet remains divided as ever, but I watched it and I laughed. If you like his comedy, you'll like this special. A lot.
Need a feel-good love story in the Era of Covid? Want to really drive home that idea of being alive together? Enter Jeremy Cohen.
YouTube videographer Nathaniel Drew talks about the most feared phenomena of the 21st Century: boredom
Tim Ferriss shared a true story from Auburn Sandstrom that he said "blew my mind and opened my heart." I'd have to agree. "Read the whole thing. Trust me. Take the five minutes and be rewarded."
Until next time...