One of the finest things I took from my love/hate relationship with the book The Art of Non-Conformity was the idea of separate bucket lists. Not just the usual lifetime (and often gigantic) ones like skydiving, start a business, own a sports team, or build a robot, but more practical and obtainable goals on a one year and five year basis as well. Sure I could build the robot that’ll save humanity from the Cylons in the next year, but something like getting scuba certified is much more obtainable (and within my current skillset). It’s also something that falls into the category of “oh, I’ve always wanted to…” or “I’ve been meaning to…” so I just started writing those things down. After a while I come back to the items and eventually determine if I want it on one of my bucket lists.
Obviously a laundry list of low risk, low stakes to-dos lacks the excitement of a good challenge. What’s the point of making a list you know you can achieve every year? While I think it’s important to throw a few soft balls into the mix for the occasional pat on the back (I’m looking at you, “Go to the movies at least five times”), an entire list of them takes away any potential for self growth. For my one year goals I try to up the ante and challenge myself to accomplish something I’ve talked about for far too long and dammit, it needs to be done. Learning basic conversational Korean is the one that comes to mind for this year. This is obviously a challenge, but not quite on the scale of seeing three continents, which is on my five year.
Traditionally I’ve updated these lists annually with the calendar flip, but this year m’lady gave me a new idea: 32 Before 32. 32 things I want to do before I turn 32. The number originally freaked me out. 32 things is a considerable list of things to accomplish. However, it’s essentially a new beginning on the one year bucket list, which usually has 10-12 things on it. The challenge of coming up with 32 things also tested the boundaries of easy and difficult goals. It allowed me to add a few more soft punches like reading lists and mountains to hike, but it also gave me enough pause to add bigger things like studying religions from an atheist perspective.
One of the other fears in making this list is how easy it is to leave things out. Six months from now things may be drastically different (I was living in the US working a desk job six months ago) and I may want to achieve different goals. So what then? Write it down and come back to it for the next one year bucket list. Or… ya know… do that thing and be a badass that accomplished 33 things before 32.
Since my one year bucket list is something I bare the sole responsibility for, I rather enjoy the idea of updating it annually on my birthday as opposed to New Years. I already set and am quite dedicated to New Years Resolutions, so adding in my bucket list at the same time makes for a rather large task. There’s also the fact that winter is a time I like to slow down, look inward, and be more reflective than active. I still do outdoor activities like hiking and soccer, but beach weekends, going out on the ocean, or the vast majority of outdoor activities are cut down, so it’s a more natural time to read a book, study another language, or make copious amounts of beer.
As one of the fortunate folks whose parents got down in the late fall, I have a summer birthday. A time when the outdoors are begging for the attention they deserve, a chilly ocean is actually inviting, and that outdoor jacket no longer needs to be worn indoors (that may just be a Korea thing). Regardless of your wardrobe choices, summer is a much more active time and I'd like to fall in line with that. Which makes it a perfect time to update my one year bucket list. I can avoid having my goals fall into the confines of the Gregorian calendar and set them to the Ryan calendar. I’m thinking of them more like the glorious 90s Red Wing teams with banners flying from the rafters that say 1996-97 Stanley Cup Champions. Makes it feel a bit more like an enduring campaign when it spans multiple years, doesn’t it?
So with that in mind, here’s my 2015-16 32 Things To Do Before 32:
- Learn basic conversational Korean
- Get PADI Scuba Diving Certification
- Get quarter sleeve tattoo
- Learn a Korean song for noreabang
- Make a good Old Fashioned
- Hike a ridgeline for at least two days
- Hike Gwanaksan (3rd tallest)
- Hike Seoraksan
- Go on a night hike
- Play in a full day soccer tournament
- Score a goal in competitive play (11-a-side)
- Visit at least 3 new K-League stadiums
- Interview at least 2 more K-League players
- Go to a Korean National Team match
- Brew at least 5 batches of beer
- Make makgeolli
- Read 5 new sci fi novels
- Read 3 non-fiction books
- Read Religion for Atheists to begin studying religions more
- Visit the DMZ
- Go white water rafting
- Ride a zipline
- See live jazz
- Send a birthday present to all nieces and nephews
- Go to the movies at least five times
- Temple Stay
- Spend the night on a boat
- Spend the night on a mountain
- Arm workouts at least once a week
- Work on a farm for at least a day
- Make a decent bowl of ramen
- Go back to Japan
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