The Anti-Bucket List: Things Not To Do Before You Die

In a reversal of the now increasingly common Bucket List formula, one blogger has published “Things I would like to do, that I probably could do, but never will do.” Because sometimes it’s nice to say never.

Jill of Feministe’s anti-bucket list includes such items as “be an urban bee-keeper” and “make my own ricotta.” As Katy points out, many of these seem inspired by the “new domestic goddess/locovore/food blogger phenomenon” which can sometimes make one feel a bit inadequate. So while one can admire these feats, sometimes it’s a relief to just throw up your hands and say you’ll never raise your own chickens.

It’s actually a little hard for me to say “never” (it feels like a jinx somehow). But there are a few things I’d be fine with not doing in my life. Some of them I’ve aspired to do at various points, and sometimes letting go of an aspiration feels less like giving up than like letting yourself off the hook. Into this category fall baking pies (my mom does this, it looks hard, and I think I’m just going to keep buying them); driving stick (these are on the way out, right?); and meditating (for me it always feels like scheduled worrying). My particular anti-bucket list also contains things that other people frequently aspire to do that I just don’t: climbing Mt. Everest, for instance, or moving to a foreign country without knowing anyone, or being a hermit for a year (the common thread in these last two is that I don’t like being lonely).

It turns out that various daredevil escapades are popular nevers. Katy and Jenna are never going bungee-jumping, Margaret and Dodai both eschew skiing, and Hortense will avoid “Anything ‘EXTREME!!!’ that you’d see on a Mountain Dew commercial: skydiving, bungee jumping, parasailing, white water rafting, etc. I know it’s a life-changing (or just fun) experience for some people, but it’s not for me. I’d panic and end up screaming and possibly peeing my pants, which I suppose is ‘extreme!’ in it’s own way, but certainly not something one would win a gold medal for at the X-Games.”

However, not all anti-bucket items are EXTREME. Jessica will never take a “big-deal cruise,” and Sadie has “long known that I can die very happily without ever swimming with dolphins or visiting Sesame Place.” But Irin has done both, and can’t think of anything she never wants to do, so perhaps the anti-bucket list isn’t for everyone. Those whose buckets are getting a little heavy, though, might consider emptying some things out — it makes more room for champagne.

Image via shabaneiro/Shutterstock.com.

Things I Would Like To Do, That I Probably Could Do, But Never Will Do. [Feministe]