Got Luggage...? My 500 Words January 22, 2014

GOT LUGGAGE...?

Dreams... what are your dreams?  Do you allow yourself to dream?

Venice, Italy is one of my dreams.  The canal streets of water fascinate me.  The portrayal of floating on a gondola with your lover is the ultimate romantic scene.  If your gondolier happens to be singing love songs in Italian, well, that puts the romance factor over the top.

I have a collection of old suitcases, used as decor, strewn about my house.  I have pictures of far away places on my walls.  I am a travel bug that doesn't travel much.  Even the wallpaper on my cell phone is  a soothing ocean view.

I tell myself, if I had the financial means, I would travel all the time. But...would I really?  Or is it just the "idea" of traveling that captures my imagination? 

In 2007, the movie, "The Bucket List", created a revenue of over 175 million dollars.  The term "bucket list" became entwined in our culture and our vocabulary.  Why?  What was the phenomenon of the two main characters facing death that hooked our attention? 

This is from a movie overview...
"Corporate billionaire Edward and working class mechanic Carter have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to escape and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their "bucket list". In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find the joy in life ... "

So many people I knew were writing their "bucket lists" after seeing the movie.  What inspired them?  Could the reality of their finite-ness and mortality have been a motivator?

Have you ever heard someone say..."well, when I retire I am going to do____."  Yet, have you ever heard a dying person despair because they wish they would have worked more? I can't say I have.  I have never heard anyone voice regrets, on their death bed, over wanting to have spent more hours at the office or to have made more money.

We've all heard the heartbreaking stories of people finally retiring only to have their spouse die, or one of them becomes afflicted with a terminal illness.  Or, the retiree dies and leaves behind a spouse who had been patiently waiting for the long promised time together.

What a pity that humans value their self-importance in a career over their loved ones and the simple joys of living.

Don't wait until an illness renders you or a loved one unable to live out your dreams and desires.  Why wait for some vague, indeterminate time frame? It's as senseless as using the "good dishes and silver" only on special occasions....or the heirloom tablecloth from Grandma Sophie that only graces the table at Easter...or your aunt's beautiful necklace that is reserved for the opera....or the restored car that has deteriorated in a shed since Grandpa Joe died.

My conviction is this.....do it now!  Get the good china and silver out for the pizza and the hot dogs and the morning cereal.  Wear that elegant pearl necklace and earrings from a beloved aunt with your blue jeans or your pj's, if you want to.  Use that delicate tablecloth when the grand-kids come.

What in the world are you waiting for???