Anti-Bucket List 2017

As soon as Hanson released "I Was Born" this year and started talking about challenging yourself to do exciting and even scary new things, I thought about my own Anti-Bucket List series that I've challenged myself with for the past few years. Here's my 2017--some planned, some definitely unplanned, and all survived and accomplished one way or another:

Anti-Bucket List series posts

DO GO BE: Let's Get Fired Up

I may not have fully embraced the concept of "I Was Born" at first, but I still love the motivation to get out and do something fun. We picked up the challenge in a (slightly) safer, less adrenaline-inducing way and decided to fly in a hot air balloon over the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina during a day off from following the MOE tour.

I'm a little weird about heights. I'll ride the tallest, fastest ride at any theme park as long as I'm strapped in securely, but I won't climb the 10 foot ladder at work. I'm naturally clumsy and generally uncomfortable in any situation where I might be responsible for my own safety, so I wasn't really sure how I'd fare in a hot air balloon. It actually ended up being an extremely relaxing ride that didn't scare me at all. It was quiet, peaceful, and gorgeous, and I'd recommend it to anyone in good enough physical shape to climb into the basket. (What I don't recommend is forgetting not to use hairspray when it specifically says not to in the waiver and having to frantically wash it out in a rest stop sink 30 minutes before the flight so your hair doesn't catch on fire.)

Our pilot asked us where we were from, which always leads to how did you meet, and then leaves us at the inevitable "Hanson? Like MMMBop Hanson?" He was intrigued and even ended up looking up "Fired Up" and playing it for us while we took off. It was a pretty cool moment. Cheers for going on a hot air balloon ride, doing something a little scary, and being fired up. Literally.

DO. GO. BE.

I have a confession to make: Hanson’s newest single, “I Was Born,” didn’t sit well with me at first. Sure, it’s uplifting, inspiring, and catchier than the flu, but something in its empowering lyrics is just a little bit depressing to the semi-directionless almost thirty-something part of me that has no clue what she’s doing with her life. Do? Go? Be? Sure. I’m all for the excitement of one-off action verbs. But asking me to think about what I was “born” to do or to identify something I've done that no one else in existence has done before? That’s a bit grandiose for my current list of accomplishments. I came away from my first listen ultimately thinking this is a great message for kids…too bad it’s going to send adult me into an early mid-life crisis.

Really, that little bit of a push towards action isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s probably part of what Hanson hoped to accomplish by extending the “I Was Born” challenge to us in the first place. It’s a useful reminder that we’ve still got some time to do all of those things we haven’t bothered to do yet, but not if we don’t get out there and start making them happen. Sometimes being shown the reality of your situation is a necessary tool in being able to change it. But there’s another side of that reality, and I think it’s important not to get so caught up in a frantic rush of bucket list items that we forget a more important truth: that every single one of us has already done, gone, and been exactly who we were meant to be whether or not we’ve jumped out of a plane or written a best-selling novel.

The truth is not everyone was born for a capital letter existence like ASTRONAUT or PRESIDENT (or dare I say, HANSON), and plenty of us don't even realize the absolutely crucial quieter roles we're filling every single day. Parent, teacher, supporter, believer, friend. You don’t have to perform a miracle surgery to save someone’s life or have a physics degree to make an impact on the world. Maybe I'm not the only blogger or Hanson fan or failed teacher in the world, and I'm certainly not the only one who has ever been to the Grand Canyon or Disney World or had the guts to hold a giant python. But I'm the only one who has ever been the sum of all of my individual parts and experiences. And as alluring as it is to think about being the first or only one to accomplish something, isn't it those fragments of shared experiences that allow us to connect with each other in the first place? "Only" can be a pretty lonely word.

I also can't forget that Hanson has been inspiring me long before “I Was Born” existed. They were filling my head with hopes and crazy plots years before I had a degree or independence or the capacity to regret something I haven’t done. I’ve already climbed metaphorical mountains and literal waterfalls because of them. I’ve followed them to ~25 states and four countries. I’ve visited Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon and walked barefoot in dozens of cities across the United States for a worthy cause. Because of them, I have continued to write and find my voice beyond the days of required school assignments. They’ve indirectly made me into a writer, an adventurer, a volunteer, and a friend. They’ve helped shape my most important role and perhaps the only thing I’m sure I was born to be: myself. So while we're out there blazing new trails on the MOE tour and picking up the proverbial gauntlet that Hanson has thrown down, I think it’s also important not to forget the things we’ve already done, the places we’ve already gone, and the people we’ve always been. I'm thankful for the years of inspiration this band has already brought me and for many more to come. Here's to challenging, encouraging, and embracing not only ourselves, but each other.

I'll end with some of my favorite inspiring words from Isaac Hanson that remind me of two important things: that I was born for a reason, and that it's okay if I don't know what that is just yet.

"You have a purpose. You were born for a reason. You were made just the way you are, perfectly and beautifully just as you are. Now if there is something in your heart or in your head to do, something you have been dismissing…take baby steps. Begin. Write it down, and try and do it. It doesn’t have to be a big thing…DO IT. This week. Right now. Begin this process and do it. I am encouraging you as your friend to move forward with that idea. To move forward with that purpose." 

 -Isaac Hanson, Grace Unknown Podcast