What’s on a 61-Year-Old’s Bucket List?
When you’re young, you never really think, “I may not have much time left, I need to prioritize the things I want to do so I don’t leave important things til it’s too late.” No, you go, “I want to travel/learn foreign languages/volunteer/foster a puppy/get another degree/salsa dance/run a marathon/ride in a hot-air balloon, etc., BUT THERE’S NO RUSH, I HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.”
Well, I’m at the age where I KNOW I don’t have all the time in the world, I can probably only really count on (barring disaster/accident/serious health issue) a guaranteed (I know, I know, you know what I mean) 20(ish) more years of being able to DO stuff…and more importantly, ENJOY doing stuff. And really TEN YEARS is a safer bet. Anything after that is gravy. Old, tired, broke gravy.
So I DO need to start really prioritizing things I still want to do. And I have to walk a fine line, as, once I’m retired I’ll have more TIME to do the things, but I’ll have less MONEY to do the things. So. I need to really assess and prioritize.
I came up with a bucket list for the coming year – my 61st year. It’s much shorter than similar lists have been in the past. A) I’m more realistic now about what I can accomplish in any given time frame, and B) the older I get, the fewer things I WANT to do. I think it’s also (overall) more practical. “Swim with dolphins” and “skydive” are no longer on the list. And some things seem more like “goals” than THIS REALLY COOL THING I WANT TO DO. Because I’m running out of time. And FIRST I need to do the things I HAVE to do…to make future plans a possibility. And this is the year to get through a lot of those things.
So without further ado…here is my 61st birthday bucket list:
* Get comfortable enough in Korean that I can use one of those “talk to people in other languages” apps to get more conversational.
* Go to Japan with Katie (this will get pushed back to 62 if their 2-week quarantine doesn’t get lifted in time).
* Sell all the stuff I want to sell (this doesn’t include clothing, that’s a whole different animal and clothes take up less square footage in the apartment, plus it’s easier and I prefer doing the harder thing first).
* See my sister. I haven’t seen her in three years and she’s a couple jumps ahead on the “running out of time” timeline so…
* Get to a hundred jump rope jumps!
* Play/take lessons: tennis or badminton.
* Hip-hop dance class, if they ever go unmasked.
* If BTS ever goes on tour, GO TO A CONCERT (I sort of don’t think this will happen within the coming year, so…).
* Take (and pass!) a TEFL class (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). I’m hoping this is something I can do in retirement to supplement the meager social security benefits. It can be done online from anywhere in the world.
And the floater…
* Piano. I’m thinking more and more this may need to wait til post-retirement as there are just so many other things going on now! Or til I win lotto.
So there it is. I kind of think of this Bucket List as being more of A Personal Challenge to Myself list, but that’s okay. That’s where I am in life. There’s sh*t I gotta get done and I’m running out of time.
***
These photos were taken on my birthday when we were in Brooklyn. The camera was NOT cooperating. It powered on, it SOUNDED like it was taking pictures, but nothing was showing in the display or in review. So…was a picture really happening? Was I even IN IT? Was I in focus? Was there a tree growing out of my head? Dunno. But we figured let’s give it a go…worst that could happen was I’d have no pictures….and that was gonna happen ANYWAY, so….DON’T YOU THINK SWSRN DID A GREAT JOB?!? Maybe shooting blind is her specialty? Ha ha JK…but seriously. I think it makes you much more intentional when shooting, like when shooting film. You can’t see what you’re shooting…until you get the developed pictures back. So you gotta get it right in the viewfinder. Bam. Lesson learned.
Anyway. I was happy to finally wear this dress. I bought it MONTHS ago…but it waited for New White Sneakers…then it waited for Little White Cardigan (which I was not wearing that day, but I would to work cuz AC)…then it waited for the ironing board to be set up. And here it is the end of summer and I’m JUST getting around to wearing it!
Story of my life.
WHICH IS WHY I HAVE A LIST OF STUFF I WANT/NEED TO GET DONE THIS YEAR BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
WHAT I’M WEARING
Dress: Osei-Duro, 2x. 2021
Sneakers: Keds Champions
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Ashley
Your bucket list is so solid, babe! I think it’s so cool that you’re learning Korean! And a hip-hop dance class would be so fun.
This outfit is super cute and fresh- you look beautiful!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
bettyewp
re dance class, right?? I’ve tried doing online classes and they’re so hard that I give up (ha) but in an actual live class I’d have to keep trying.
And yeah, really enjoying (and being terrified by) learning Korean. As slowly as I’m progressing, I’m recognizing more and more words and phrases in the kdramas I watch and the Korean music I listen to, and that’s really exciting!
xoxo
julia
Those seem very do-able as soon as stupid covid is over. I really love this for you. Teaching english after learning Korean seems like a great retirement job ( ha ha, America. where you need to plan to have a retirement job!). I’m excited to follow along as you achieve these!
bettyewp
Ha, yeah, “post-retirement career,” ugh. Sigh.
I think we BOTH have exciting future plans!
jodie filogomo
We have that kind of list. And the days I have headaches or we don’t feel well, reminds me that I have to remember to concentrate on my health as part of the bucket list because none of it happens otherwise. UGH.
It’s really one reason we retired early. It’s the time or money conundrum….
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
bettyewp
IT IS CERTAINLY A CONUNDRUM!!!
Marsha B
Your bucket list is a lot of fun! If I tried a hip hop class, I’d break my hip! No groove bones whatsoever in this body. I’ve never thought in terms of a yearly bucket list, but that is such a fabulous idea. Now, I’m going to have to start thinking…my birthday is next month so I have a little time. Maybe finally learning French?
Your photography skills are amazing. Maybe you could do that as a post-retirement thing? But, I guess you already do the photography thing where you work so maybe that would feel more like a continuation of the old job. Good luck on all of these!
bettyewp
Ha ha, break a hip in hip hop class 🙂
Oh! Yeah, bite-sized bucket lists are so much easier! And French, oui! I took four years of French in high school (aka a hundred years ago) and feel like I could still get by if needed. It’s been interesting learning Korean as sometimes when I’m trying to think of the word in Korean, the word in French pops into my head.
I’ve done the “photography as a business” thing. It’s not really for me. People want what they want…and I want to shoot what *I* want. Ha ha. And people don’t want to pay for good work. “I could shoot this for free on my iphone,” they say. Well, there you go then, you’re all set. Ha.
People!
Iris
Your dress is pretty. Your bucket list interesting. You’re just a youngster to me.
Iris
bettyewp
Everything is relative, for sure!
Andrea
Happy birthday!
bettyewp
Thanks, Andrea!