Mining the Bucket List

We all have a list, whether it resides in our minds only to be viewed during those private times when we want to let our dreams fly or actually written down somewhere. This is not about winning a lottery or becoming fabulously rich, at least not for me, but it is a list of items you want to accomplish before you die. It sounds ominous. It was a charming film with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. But we all have one. Some call it a bucket list, perhaps a better title is the someday list. Someday we’ll get to that, someday we’ll achieve that.

I want to do more traveling, work with fascinating people, help where I can with whatever experience I can bring, see Europe, visit Australia, try zip lining, do a lap in an F1 car and many other things. Some excite me, some terrify me but all make me feel alive when I think about them. But it’s all pie in the sky without action, without a plan to actually accomplish the items on the list.

Life Gets in the Way

We get caught by the often self-induced emergencies in our day. We say things like “Wow, that was a tough week, so glad it’s the weekend” but we barely ever give much credence to the finality of life. We are not going to be here forever. We will not get it all done. We spend far too much of our precious time wishing and hoping for some day that never arrives.

Our minds take us on a banal journey of tasks and deadlines. We have to make our quarter, hit the numbers, beat the other company and launch the initiative. And to borrow from the Bard, it’s all a bunch of noise signifying nothing. The one emotion we all feel, consciously or subconsciously, is a need for purpose in our lives. All of this chatter about followers and connections, this portal or that interface means the square root of nothing if we can’t feel it right in our core and make human connection.

TED Returns

One item on my bucket (or someday) list is attending the TED conference in California which is on this week. Some of the brightest and most fascinating people – on stage and in the audience – attend this exclusive event. Admission is $6,000. Admission for TED2012 will be $7,500. I know a few people who have attended and all say without hesitation it is worth every penny.

From TED2011, French artist and TED Prize winner JR talks about how he has tried to make the world a better place.



Kneale Mann

visual credit: TED