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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on May 26, 2021 10:58:05 GMT
I don't have a bucket list, but I would like to make the missus's dream of seeing the Aurora Borealis in real life come true. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing it again...
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Post by Reactionary Rage on May 26, 2021 14:09:28 GMT
This could be an interesting thread. I get what you are saying in that we have multiple things going on at once.... 1. The concept of some kind of universal bucket list that is a bit of tick box exercise perhaps....soulless, unthinking 2. A personal bucket list that has more value and is worth exploring (I agree) 3. The idea that meaning does not necessarily come from visiting places or skydiving or swimming with dolphins but can be found in everyday experiences That third point is the most interesting, I think, and worth talking about. Any kind of routine dulls the faculties. So 'everyday experiences' cannot mean 'things you do every day' - unless the implication is that there are surprises in the everyday. Somebody in the street gives you a special kind of smile, for instance, because there's no meaning in making a cuppa, watching the next Eastenders or walking the dog. You forget you've done it minutes later. Maybe it would help to look back and think about what 'brought meaning' (whatever that means) to you in the past, and then you know what kind of things to look out for in the future. I wouldn't substitute watching Eastenders for seeing the Taj Mahal or summat but to go back to what Ray said about joy, pleasure, excitement.... meaning then I think you can find this in the everyday moments and it can be just as profound. In our relationships with other people, in our jobs, in our pets, in art. It depends how you approach these things and how you interpret the everyday. A fulfilling life doesn't have to be one that is full of bucket list moments, it can be a small town life but one filled with satisfying human experiences that combine to create something powerful and meaningful. Does the local priest devoted to his local community have a less satisfying life than the person who's travelled the world and seen/done X, Y and Z? At the end maybe those moments can provide succour, perhaps, as the endless void approaches; a sense of a life well lived but maybe there's an emptiness in them too, in the same way there is an emptiness to hedonistic pursuits. Maybe you might look back and think, "yeah I saw the great barrier reef and I climbed up Machu Picchu but I never had a real, meaningful relationship with a partner or made the world a little bit better and left something of note behind". Of course you can do both, pursue the bucket list stuff - more temporary, sensory and get pleasure and beauty from that - but also the deeper stuff too. My suspicion is that those who pursue the former to such an extent are maybe substituting one for the other perhaps? Like it becomes one of those surrogate activities. The Taj Mahal reduced to a selfie and a hundred "likes". Maybe the thing we are chasing is actually within ourselves. I always remember a moment in India....it was morning and I'd eaten an omelette in a roll that I'd bought from some street vendor for breakfast. I went for a walk and came across a stray puppy. I picked him up and cradled him life a baby and looking into his eyes I felt a great rush of happiness and bliss coming over me. It was powerful. In that moment that's all there was...no past, no future, just me holding a dog and there was real joy there. Afterwards I felt like I was walking on air. You can experience those moments at any time, potentially, anywhere but you have to, I dunno, commit to that somehow. Flick that switch in your brain. There can be meaning in walking the dog, you just have to make it so although I understand the routine of life can dull this faculty. Anyway, rambling....
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Post by oh oooh on May 26, 2021 14:22:11 GMT
But doing that THERE rather than in Edinburgh - I reckon the place gave it all extra power. No?
I think it's all about variety.
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Post by tory on May 26, 2021 17:19:38 GMT
I guess a few things need to be clarified..
50 years ago the notion of "most people" being able to travel the world was unheard of. My parents didn't have a foreign holiday until 1981 (to Greece) and they were lower-middle class. A schoolmate who went to America (Florida) was treated like royalty by us, and that's me living in the South East.
Yes, there was the hippie trail but that was the preserve of the affluent middle class alone. As air travel prices changed, anyone could travel and go anywhere. SE Asia/India etc changed everything in the 80s and 90s. Suddenly we knew the world in far more detail than we had ever done.
With that, it meant that the sort of travel one could do was achievable. One could go to Kilimanjaro, or to Easter Island or wherever - helped by Lonely Planet, The Rough Guide and now of course the Internet and TripAdvisor.
The reality is that there are some truly mind-blowing places to go and see around the world.
But I'd agree with the general sentiment on this thread as to whether doing that means much. I'm glad that I've seen, in relative terms, a bit of the world, in particular going outside of Europe, but whether it has improved my well-being is more difficult to ascertain. After all, travelling in that way or being a tourist is, in particular for Westerners, a somewhat gilded experience. I went around Patagonia, but the whole place is essentially a massive theme park for tourists, with very little of what I might call an "authentic" vibe left of it. Yes, the scenery is wonderful and "breath-taking", but does it mean much? On that trip, I valued the people we were with far more than perhaps the place itself.
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Post by cousinlou on May 26, 2021 21:28:34 GMT
Maybe nog so much a Bucketlist thing but rather a regret that can’t be fixed anymore: to have been born and lived in New York.
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Sneelock
god
Better than Washington...
Posts: 8,585
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Post by Sneelock on May 26, 2021 21:30:55 GMT
have you looked into this whole "being Born Again" thing? I don't know many details but it might be worth looking into.
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Post by Reactionary Rage on May 27, 2021 9:29:00 GMT
Bucket list things....
Find a more satisfying job Get good at the guitar Start recording some music and perform it live Do a road trip in America Go to Bayreuth Get fucked up and properly gamble in Vegas like a KING Skydiving Hot air balloon
Lots of places I'd like to visit of course.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2021 9:39:33 GMT
See peace on earth
Understand that children are our future
No more cruelty to animals
That I become miss Des Moines 2021 !
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Post by DarknessFish on May 27, 2021 9:41:32 GMT
I've done the last one, and it's a very, very cool, serene thing to do. I always fancied skydiving, but then I went watching one of my friends do a charity tandem jump. Sitting there watching with her partner and kids, as the chute got tangled, spinning her round and round as she plummetted earthwards until it was eventually cut away... She was absolutely fine, the reserve did its job but I'll never forget that experience of being absolutely horrified and trying to not add to the panic of her kids. At that point, I changed my mind about giving it a go.
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Post by Reactionary Rage on May 27, 2021 9:57:34 GMT
Yeah, I have visions of doing one in Tuscany or summat. Flying peacefully over the beautiful scenery and drinking champagne whilst scoffing some cheese and cooked meats. Probably wearing mustard coloured kecks and one of those padded jackets toff cunts have.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2021 9:58:11 GMT
I'd quite like to buy more buckets. They're useful in the garden. I used one the other day to plant a rhodedendrum and I could do with a few more.
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Sneelock
god
Better than Washington...
Posts: 8,585
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Post by Sneelock on May 27, 2021 15:58:46 GMT
yeah, those are GREAT Bucket List entries. but, what is NOT on your bucket list?
Laser eye surgery? "The Grapefruit Diet"? Billy Ellish Tickets?
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Post by fearlessfreap on May 27, 2021 16:03:52 GMT
Having my penis pierced Getting a neck tattoo Eating chum
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