*courtesy of Hobby Lobby 

I have come to realize the importance of what is commonly referred to as a bucket list.

buck·et list

noun informal

a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.

“making this trip is the first thing on my bucket list”

So, in essence, you write down everything you would like to do before you “kick the bucket” or in other words everything you would like to accomplish before you leave this life and move on to the next. 

I have yet to write a bucket list. Several reasons come to mind. The first reason is that many people refer to their bucket list as their list of things to do before they die. Well, honestly I don’t wanna think about dying, because I’m going to live forever, and deeply feel that the whole death thing would give my list bad vibes. The second reason is that buckets are usually associated with gross things. I have had a few that I loved that were aged to perfection with dents, scratches and the like that I stuffed with soil and oodles of daffodils, tulips, or whatever was blooming at that particular moment in time, but mostly I associate the slimy gross eww that needs to be disposed of and most likely was needed to tackle some kind of an enormous mess, and well being a mother of four I have seen enough ewwww and don’t even want to think about it. 

So I thought long and hard, went through oodles of word choices that never made my final cut, but I chose drumroll……. Life Aspirations.

life

2. the existence of an individual human being or animal.

“a disaster that claimed the lives of 266 Americans”

ex·ist·ence

1. the fact or state of living or having objective reality.

“the plane was the oldest Boeing remaining in existence”

2. continued survival.

“she helped to keep the company alive when its very existence was threatened”

3. a way of living.

plural noun: existences

“living in a city was more expensive than a rural existence”

as·pi·ra·tion

1. a hope or ambition of achieving something.

“he had nothing tangible to back up his literary aspirations”

These are definitions that I chose, I hope this helps you understand why I chose them. 

For as long as I can remember I have been carrying my bucket list around in my brain. This is not recommended because then there’s more information up there clogging my brain, and since I am constantly stuffing it full, I don’t want my poor brain to pop. 

Some I have already checked off my list. 

I never thought I would be able to take my daughter to see the Broadway Play Hamilton and look I did! 

For example, I wanted to see The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. I have lived my whole life on a minuscule budget and lived pretty much in the center of the United States. The idea of me galavanting 1,257 miles to see a choir perform no matter how important it was to me was essentially highly unlikely. In June of 2009, this particular choir journeyed to my neck of the woods. I was beside myself. I had tickets and was so excited. To me, this was one of those things that in the back of my mind was impossible. I am desperately trying to retrain my brain so that when I feel something is impossible it reminds me to remind my brain that this is just silly nonsense because through Christ all things are possible. 

I saw them at the Scott Trade Center in St.Louis but here is a video of them at the St.Louis Arch.

Speaking of silly, here is a short little true story. When I had tickets to see the then-called Mormon Tabernacle Choir in St. Louis Missouri nothing was stopping me. Days before their performance I got stung by a member of the hornet family. My hand doubled in size and maybe I should have gone to the doctor but the fear of missing this opportunity consumed me. So I hung tight. Well, I made it and as I watched the performance, with my ginormous hand, I realized the couple right behind me was one I knew from a previous church I attended and a doctor! We showed him my hand and he had his wife reach into her purse and pull out some Benadryl and the swelling ceased. I always felt this was a mighty miracle because over 18,000 people the doctor and his wife were right behind me and could help comfort me in my time of need. 

After I could cross seeing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir off my brain bucket list, I decided to add that I want to sing with them. Maybe one day, more officially that might happen, but when I went to my graduation ceremony located at BYU Idaho, I made a pit stop at the April 2022 session of the general conference and actually sang with The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. It was a congregational hymn, but I’m counting it. I think sometimes we obsess over thinking things because we envision them in a certain way that we miss out on, I choose not to do this. I can honestly say that that moment in the Conference Center was a very precious moment to me that I will never ever forget.

Can you hear me singing? I was there singing my little heart out!

Another item I wanted to cross off my list is that I wanted to see the Piano Guys in concert. If you have never seen them on YouTube I highly recommend them. I knew this was something I really wanted to do, and remember, my budget is microscopic.  So I was in shock when one of my besties called me and said she had tickets and that her husband did not feel well and wanted to know if I would like to go. I said yes! I never thought I would get to see them, and I did. 

I even messaged the Piano Guys while at the concert and I got this cute message back. 

Another church perk is that our church makes really cool movies, and I always wanted to be in one. Imagine my surprise when their film crew popped in for a visit to Columbia, Missouri. I was able to be in a church video. It was so exciting. My goal was to be in one and not necessarily be the main star so I made it. We even made it into the final cut which was super exciting.

Here is that video

As I write this post, others popped into my brain. I always wanted a piece of paper to prove I wasn’t stupid, now I have lots of those. I also wanted to attend our church’s General Conference, I did that too. 

I am sure there are oodles of things I have aspired to do in this life I have been given and have already achieved, but since I didn’t really have a record of those things I aspire to achieve, I may not remember them all. When I am feeling hard on myself and am convinced I am a big loser, it is so nice to have evidence that maybe I am not as loserish as I thought. Which makes me feel better and not so loserish. 

So I decided to finally sit down and do it. To sit down and list all those things I aspire to achieve in this life. I am sure I will add to this list but at least it’s a start.

Here is mine and then

I also have started pages in my sketchbook, like “Oh the places I’ll go”,  “Mentors I’ll meet”, and a “to do” one, and then every year I pick a word to focus on throughout the year and this year my word is determined.

My favorite place by far to find sketchbooks and journals is Ross they are so nice and so inexpensive!!

I designed my own Life Aspirations printable I am adding it to this post so that you can aspire to achieve your aspirations right along with me. Have fun with this set a timer for 15 minutes and then just write all the fun things that pop into your mind. 

LIFE ASPIRATIONS

Also here is my Life Aspirations Pinterest Board for more inspiration & one last note, be warned if you show this to others you may have some haters, but do not let them stop you from achieving what you aspire to become.

❤️ Erin Mollie