The notion of a “summer bucket list“ begins with recognizing the reality of impermanence. We’re not here forever. How are we going to use the time we have? While life forces us to make choices about how to spend our time, we still have dreams, desires and wishes. Putting those dreams, desires and wishes in writing can be therapeutic: dreams, desires and wishes can carry burdens of longing and regret, but by writing them down, we breathe life into the possibility that we can actually make them happen. And once you cross off an item, that item is no longer a source of longing.
Summer is a particularly fertile time for bucket lists – both making for dreaming them up and for checking off items on them. The days are longer, our lives tend to slow down, and summer provides outdoor opportunities that colder months cannot. Here are some ideas for your own summer bucket list – many of which have been on my own previous lists, and many of which I am now happy to say are no longer sources of longing or regret because they have been incorporated into my routine.
