Midlife Creative

I just finished reading a book called How Do You Like Your Eggs? by Autumn Lynne.
It’s a book for those of us who have trouble making decisions and knowing what we want. It’s a part memoir, part self-help book. The author provides exercises and journal prompts for readers who are feeling stuck in life. She offers a bold and beautiful way out of people pleasing and into living a life of deeper satisfaction. One of the suggestions she gives is to make a bucket list of things you want to do within a certain timeframe. It could be 50 things before 50 like I am choosing to do, or 20 things in the next year. The important part is that it is manageable, realistic, and able to be completed within the time frame. My instagram friend, Monica was the one who told me about the book and inspired me when she sharing her own list.

You can find my list of 50 Things I Want to Try Before I Turn 50 below. I turned 45 this year, so I have 5 years to complete everything on the list. If you have expertise or interest in trying one with me, hop on board! I can’t do this alone. Better yet, make your own list. and let’s cheer each other on in stepping out of our comfort zones and trying new things.

MY 50 BEFORE 50 LIST

1. Play pickleball
2. Go horseback riding
3. Learn how to make 3 mixed drinks
4. Visit 5 National Parks
5. Go back to Madilyn Island and jump off the rocks
6. Visit Glacier National Park in Montana
7. Get a pedicure
8. Pick flowers on a farm and arrange a bouquet
9. Ride on a tractor
10. Go to a piano teacher retreat
11. Write a book
12. Visit a new apple orchard
13. Let my hair go gray
14. Buy a house
15. Try Ethiopian food
16. Plant a veggie garden every summer
17. Fly in a private plane
18. Take a hot air balloon ride
19. Go to a Broadway show in New York City
20. Visit 3 State Parks along the North Shore in Minnesota
21. Climb a mountain
22. Take a creative writing class
23. Sing Handels Messiah with a group
24. Take voice lessons
25. Visit a Jewish Synagogue
26. Be a part of a cookie exchange
27. Ride a tandem bicycle
28. Complete a cross stitch project
29. Go tubing down a river
30. Go to another state fair besides Minnesota
31. Sleep in a boat overnight
32. Take a trip with Elliot and Tabby
33. Travel somewhere by myself
34. Go on a 24 hour silent retreat
35. Visit the Swedish Institute of MN
36. Visit the MN Landscape Arboretum
37. Go strawberry picking
38. Go snow shoeing
39. Attend the amateur talent show at the MN State Fair
40. Visit Big Sur in California
41. Make homemade pickles
42. Join a fiction book club
43. Visit another country besides the U.S. with Mark
44. Go to a concert with Mark
45. Serve a meal at a homeless shelter
46. Go fishing
47. Take my nieces and nephews on an outing
48. Take an aunt or uncle out to lunch
49. Buy myself a piece of art
50. Go cross country skiing

Now it’s your turn. Which things on my list appeal to you? Is there one that you could help me to complete? Do you have your own bucket list?