The UnBucket List

Before the pandemic, Marie Kondo promised we’d find joy in having less clutter in our spaces, and I think that includes our headspace. It’s the last few months before That Birthday, and in tribute to KonMari, I submit to you something new: The UnBucket List, a list of things I vow NOT to do. If I have to face mortality, even in the long view, this list will help me focus on what’s most important, what makes me the happiest, and gives me permission to ignore the rest.

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The Power of Yes

A few months BC (Before COVID), I read Year of Yes, by Shauna Rhimes. The premise is deceptively simple: Despite incredible professional success, the Queen of Shaunda Land felt lonely and unfulfilled. On a dare from her sister, Shaunda spent a year saying “Yes” to everything – speaking engagements, parties, working out, salads, events – and she found her new life surprisingly rewarding and exciting in ways she hadn’t imagined it could be.

I was inspired and energized as she told her story, but as I considered my own life, I felt like I was very, very far away from So Much Yes.

I said no. A lot.

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What's in a Name?

At one point in my life, I used my maiden name as my middle name, and my husband’s last name as my own, but then my middle name disappeared. I remember seeing my ‘new’ name on some official document and I found it disorienting and unfamiliar.

Where was my name? Who was this? Where had I gone?

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