Bucket list

 

Bucket list?

I have always found this phrase irritating (or maybe it’s the people who use it who aggravate me) but didn’t really understand its origin. Apparently, it derives from ‘kick the bucket’ and means a list of things people want to achieve before they die.

I suppose that’s a positive outlook but it suggests, to me, anyway, a measure of desperation as well as a certain sense of entitlement and ambition to ‘keep up with the Joneses.’

Or perhaps it is simply ambition, a desire to achieve something beyond the everyday, the normal, but when everything is achievable – for some – will the items on the bucket list become more fantastic? A trip to the moon or to the depths of the oceans might then leap to the top of the list.

Strangely, because of our recent internet problems, the book I read was about a bucket list. It was also a different interpretation of a pact with the devil. ‘If Cats Disappeared From The World’ by Genki Kawamura, was entertaining, well-written and thought -provoking. I really enjoyed it and shall look for more of his books.