Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Buried Life


What do you want to do before you die?
This question can provoke hilarity or deep thinking. Either way, it is a question that deserves examination.
This past week, a group of four guys called The Buried Life, came to speak at Northeastern. For anyone who is not familiar with MTV, The Buried Life is one of their more popular shows that follows these four guys, Duncan, Jonnie, Ben and Dave, as they try to cross items off their list of things they want to do before they die. What’s really cool is that The Buried Life also tries to help random strangers they meet along their journey accomplish items on their list.
They spoke about how they began their project and where an idea so simple can take a person’s life and make a difference in others’.
Of course we all have a mental list of things we want to do before we die. Things like “fall in love,” “see the world” or “be happy” almost always make the average person’s list, mine included.
But the lesson I gained from The Buried Life’s inspirational talk was that even having crazy items on your list isn’t unrealistic.
It comes down to the idea of dreams vs. projects. We all have dreams that seem just beyond reach, but a project is something we can accomplish step by step. So looking at those crazy “bucket list” items isn’t so crazy after all. They are just another project waiting to be finished for our own self-fulfillment instead of at the beck and call of a teacher or boss.
Another lesson I learned is that verbalizing and putting those items in print make them just a little bit more real. Writing it down takes a dream from being an idea to an actualization of who you are and who you want to be.
            It is easy to lose yourself in college in the midst of the journey of self-discovery. I found it very therapeutic to write down my “list.”
The things I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid have made me surer of where I come from.
The things I hope to do within my career are helping me to focus on that goal while here at college.
And the things I’ve always thought about, but have never realized I can dream without being ridiculous have made me confident about who I am.
All of these things combined and just looking at the list materialize gives me hope about my future.

Here is a sampling of my list
1. Have an article published in a major publication.
2. Write a book.
3. Go to the Ben and Jerry’s factory.
4. Attend an awards show.
5. Climb a fourteener.

Maybe one day I’ll be writing an entry on this blog about one item I crossed off. So here’s to making a list. Not because we think about death or living life to the fullest. Here’s to making a list because it makes us feel just a little more human.