Mini Bucket List
"There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza. Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it." German folk song c.1700.
Last week I wrote about how we can improve how we look, so we can see more of what is around us. It intrigued me that our experiences affect our perception of time. The more new experiences we have in a day, the slower the day seems to go. Of course, we can’t stuff our days with new experiences, as it would be exhausting. Besides, the familiar routine can be enjoyable and comforting. But I think the idea of including new experiences more often in our lives is a great idea, it keeps our brains agile, and I like the idea of time moving more slowly.
Of course, the big version of this idea is the bucket list. A list of experiences a person wishes to have before dying is called a ‘bucket list’, as in “a list of things I want to do before I kick the bucket”.1
Screenwriter Justin Zackham wrote his own bucket list. The first item on his list was to "get a film made at a major studio". This list gave him the idea for the screenplay, and The Bucket List became his first studio film.
Mini bucket list
But I am talking about a mini bucket list - an everyday list of things to do to diversify your daily experiences and to make time slow down. Here are some ideas:
Alter your schedule - walk or jog a different route, do a different exercise routine, take an earlier train to work or drive a different way, sit in a different seat, change where you work - ask to work at a different desk for a week.
Look at things differently at home - study the stars, the trees, or the birds in your garden. Go to a different area to shop from usual, preferably somewhere you have never been before. Become a tourist in your hometown - look up local events. Change things round at home - move the furniture.
Challenge your taste. Try something you are not sure you would like, or revisit to see if your tastes have changed. Go to a music club or concert with music you are not familiar with, try a different restaurant cuisine, or cook an unusual new recipe, visit a museum, or go to an event you would not usually consider attending. What about sports - try a different sport for a while.
Take more mini breaks. Take a few three-day weekends and go away (or go on day trips). It does not have to be expensive but choose areas you have never visited. Be spontaneous - decide to do something different one weekend without planning beforehand.
Learn something new. A language, a skill, or join a choir.
Give back. Do some volunteer work.
Meet new people. Join a club or try a new activity, and try to meet new people.
Ask a friend or relative to do the same things you are doing and compare. Or challenge each other to do things outside your ‘comfort zone’. Write to each other about how you got on and include photos as proof! Hand write a letter rather than send an email, that being one of your different experiences.
Start a journal, or change the way you journal. Write down what you observe during your new experiences.
Tell your friends. “You are most likely to remember the timing of an event if it was distinctive, vivid, personally involving, and is a tale you have recounted many times since.” Psychologist Claudia Hammond.
Above all, have fun!
Note: If you don’t know the words to ‘There’s a hole in my bucket’ click on this link for the lyrics.
Nobody knows the origin of the phrase ‘to kick the bucket’ or why it should mean that the person has died. The Oxford English Dictionary speculates that the ‘bucket’ refers to a kind of yoke that was used in the 16th Century to hold pigs up by their heels, so that they could be slaughtered. The pigs often kicked the ‘bucket’ when they died. In old French ‘buquet’ is the word for a balance.
I love this list! I'll keep it in mind this week.
Bravo to you for that GoKarting adventure in New Zealand! I do love and try to live by seeking experiences outside my comfort zone. I never regret it when I do. And, I had no idea Screenwriter Justin Zackham had the making of "The Bucket List" as an actual item on his!