I can’t believe summer is here, yet at the same time I am extremely excited and I have some plans for this season. I want to share my summer bucket list with you and hear back from you about your plans. I wanted to create something authentic that represents me without looking at the generic lists that you can find anywhere.
Right now, I am on the self-discovery and healing journey and my goal is to live my most authentic life as much as possible. This is why it is important to plan things that I will be doing from my heart, not something that society expects from me.
Table of Contents
Do you actually need a list?
I feel like every season we tend to create lists, and plan and a lot of us fail. Last year I did not have any lists or plans for the summer and I did just fine. This year, I feel that I need some structure and order.
The bucket list is not really a formal to do list. It’s a list of fun activities you want to do, in my opinion. There are so many bucket lists and this is why I wanted to create something authentic and unique for myself. My summer bucket list falls somewhere between a regular bucket list and a summer to do list that I absolutely 100% have to accomplish. Although, if I’ll fail no hard feelings.
How to make a bucket list?
I don’t think everyone has to get a list but if it makes you happy, go ahead. I think if you decide to have one, do the following:
- Close your eyes and picture your ideal summer
- Try to meditate on the things you want to see, feel, and taste this season and what you want to achieve
- Strive for the things that come from within your heart and that represent you fully
- Write these things down and erase everything that is not achievable or simply not for this summer. Allow yourself to dream but also be realistic
- Decorate your list
My 2022 summer bucket list
Here is my bucket list.
- Finish my unfinished projects – crochet and jewelry. I have some old jewelry that I need to rework as well as a few crochet projects I need to finish ASAP. Luckily, in May I was able to work on a few of them but I also started a couple of the new ones 🤭 So I really need to hold myself accountable and finish all these things so that I can finally wear them.
- Lose 10 pounds. Oh, such a hard thing for me simply because losing weight is always hard. But also because I am more accepting of my weight now. However, I do understand and can clearly feel that the weight I gained makes my life harder. So I need to start losing some weight. In the spring, I already lost 5 pounds, yay!
- Move more. Another hard point. However, recently I had some stress-related health issues and realized how important it is to love and move your body. I started dancing more but I need to walk, exercise, stretch and do yoga even more.
- Become an explorer. Go outside more and learn about plants, rocks, trees, and animals.
- Read 20 books 📚 I was really slow with reading this spring so I have a lot of the unfinished books. I will not be mad if I read 15 books instead of 20. But I know that I really need to read more this season and the fact that I have some unfinished books should help me with it.
- Read a new genre. I plan to dive into fantasy books and comics this summer. Sea witch, Shadow and Bone, Heartstopper, The Umbrella Academy, and Locke &Key are on my list.
- Create memories. I plan to take a bunch of photos and videos and finally edit them into reels, TikToks, and YouTube vlogs. I also have a film camera that I need to finally use and finish, and develop. And I also going to memorize my summer in the journal.
- Romanticize my life as much as possible. I think it’s a cool way to live an aesthetic life that you like and truly enjoy the present moment.
- Eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruits. I love warm fall veggies but I think I owe it to myself to eat seasonal berries and fruits like raspberries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, and watermelons..
- Have a picnic. I had a real picnic only a few times and I love it so much. And I really can’t wait to have the picnic this year again. Even if it’s by myself, I don’t mind.
- Try boogie boarding 🏄🏼♀️ So I want to learn how to surf but this is for the future. First, I want to try something easier. We have a beach vacation planned later in July and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to learn how to boogie board and get a feeling if water sports are for me. I am a mermaid 200% and I believe I will love it, but I am not trying to break anything!
- Try new food and drink recipes. I want to try making something refreshing this year like Italian vegan pasta salads, easy vegan lemon or berry baked goods and lemonades.
- Make art that I love. So if you don’t know, I love creating. I am an art journal lover, I had my creative zine Wild Things Zine, and I also have an artsy Instagram. I always loved art but it also feels like I almost never created it from my heart, I always try to recreate other works because they looked cool or trendy. I don’t want to do it anymore, I have plenty of amazing art designs and sketches that make me extremely happy and this is what I want to surround myself with. Plus, I need to work and develop my own style.
- Make my own designs. It is similar to the point above. It’s time to execute my vision and create my own rules and trends
- Healing 🧿 Journal and self-reflect more, meditate, and heal my inner child. Those are very important things for me this season. If I want to live my authentic life, I need to face and heal my past and start moving forward.
- Write more. I have my Substack page where I am practicing personal essay and opinion piece writing. I plan to focus on these two things as well as poetry. You can subscribe to my Substack. In the summer, I am planning to post my personal essays twice a month on Saturdays. And I plan to write more poetry in English and Russian this summer but not for the public yet. I even got a romantic, Emely Dickinson-like journal for my poems 🐝
- Work on my style and self-expression. Being my authentic self also means expressing myself through style and makeup freely. My ideal style is unconventional and a mix of a few other styles and eras. Living in Raleigh, people usually dress up simply or trendy, not artistically or so (I am generalizing). I know it will be hard especially when it comes to hair and makeup but I have to fight this fear, otherwise, I will keep living my life and regretting that I could never find enough power to become who I truly am. This is a big item on my summer bucket list this year.
Wow, my bucket list is kind of challenging, self-growth aimed, and very spiritual. I mentioned that the bucket list should be fun, well I hope, this list will be fun for me!
Hope you enjoyed reading about my summer plans. Let me know your summer plans and definitely share your thought about any type of seasonal lists, especially bucket lists, in the comments down below.
Read more:
- 15 ways to cheer yourself up
- Tips on setting realistic expectations
