Organize a bucket list for the holiday season
Reading time – 3 minutes
I have never been a person to make a bucket list. Mostly because I feel I don’t have anything to put in it, the bucket.
Enjoy a walk and view Niagara Falls, dress warmly
However, during December I sometimes get depressed. It is mostly because of the lack of light. It is also because there are a lot of expectations leading up to December 25th and then it is all over. Sometimes it went well and some years it didn’t go very smoothly. This can lead to dreading the holiday season and having your spirits drop. So over the years, I have been incorporating many fun events through the month of December so there is less emphasis on one day. So this year I am making a bucket list.Incorporate many fun events through the month of December so there is less emphasis on one day. Share on X
- go to a holiday concert
- go to a candlelight walk sponsored by a town
- go to a mall and don’t shop just enjoy people watching and the decorations
- go on a tour of outdoor skating rinks
- go tobogganing /snowshoeing /cross country skiing
- have the neighbours over for an open house evening
- go to a dinner theatre
- walk around your neighbourhood and enjoy the holiday lights every night
- play holiday music
- participate in a gift-giving program, help the less fortunate
- watch the world junior hockey tournament on television
- buy a poinsettia from a fundraising group
- grow an Amaryllis plant
- buy an advent/new year calendar for yourself – this year I saw a Tea advent calendar
- light some candles each evening
- visit Niagara Falls in the winter – cold but amazing
- visit the CP holiday train US or CP holiday train Canada
Let me know what would be on your bucket list.
Plant a bulb and watch it grow
What would you put on your bucket list?
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
I completely relate to this, Julie. The lack of light in the winter gets to me too. It didn’t always bother me, but as I’ve grown, I seem to be more affected by the darkness. When you first said “bucket list,” I thought you were going to describe things like skydiving and traveling to far off places. But what’s so lovely about your post is that you’re describing everyday things to notice and enjoy, like gathering for dinner with friends, or seeing the twinkling lights that grace the holiday season, or tobogganing (which I haven’t done since I was a little girl.) The point you’re making is that there are so many things to lift our hearts, engage in, and be grateful for. ‘Tis the season.
Yes Linda I agree there are so many local things to take part in. Sharing fun with others who may also need some encouragement and giving back your community by donating / participating in great causes.
I love the idea of going to the mall but not to shop. When you’re pressured to find a gift, you don’t have the time or energy to stop and enjoy the lights and other decorations, and those crowds aren’t so bad when you don’t have to get through them!
I enjoy people watching, the decorations and a food treat too.
I have an amaryllis growing on my kitchen sink area right now, and I am loving it. As I sit and work this morning, I have lit 2 of my Advent wreath candles and listening to my Christmas playlist. These things bring me joy. I might add driving around looking at the lights in the town, going to a Christmas tree lighting, shopping in a warm and moist nursery and splurging once on a peppermint hot chocolate:)
When I drive home from events in the evening I take a different route to my house each time as a way to see more Christmas lights.
Great bucket list for the holidays.
This year was the first year I planned to take in a holiday show with the family. I started planning in October. It worked great and it really helped me get into the holiday spirit.
I have gone to a holiday show with some of my kids, depending who is around, and had a lot of fun too. It is a great idea.
My kids and grandkids are all living on the west coast, so this will be a quiet Christmas season. I think I’ll do a couple of the things on your list and jolly things up a bit.
I love the idea of a holiday bucket list. I don’t celebrate Christmas, and Hanukkah is often over many weeks before Christmas, leading to a bit of a let-down for the dark, cold, and sometimes dreary month. I often countdown the days until the Solstice, just because I know that we’ll have a few more minutes of daylight every night until DST begins again!
So many of the ideas you reference remind me of growing up in Buffalo, so close to Canada. (I don’t get to see any hockey, let alone the junior tournament, but just recalling, “He shoots, he scoooooooooores!” makes me smile.) I had to look up the CP Holiday Train, but now I’m excited to see that they recorded the holiday as a virtual concert on Saturday and I can watch Stephen Page from BNL! Yay!
I have to admit, some of these lovely activities you wrote about back in 2018 seem so quaint now that it’s been almost two years that we’ve had to curtail activities around other people. Shopping, theater-going, dinner parties — I am looking forward to the day when they can return to the schedule. But I’m delighted by the other suggestions, as well as the opportunity to think about what I can add to each day to give myself a sense of a little inner sunlight.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for your comments. Each area of the country/world holds many wonderful activities to do. Checking for small, inexpensive, local activities can add a lot of fun to your month. I found a map of houses that have wonderful Christmas lights that I can drive around and see. Add hot chocolate and carols on the radio to the evening and it is fun. I am going to my first winter solstice event tonight. The thought takes me back to visiting the Northwest Territories in July when there were only 2 hours of dusk and the rest was bright sunlight. I think of them now with 22 hours of darkness and 2 hours of dusk.
I enjoy the decorations both in my own home and in my neighborhood. I also look forward to the special church program.
There are many lovely concerts to go to. Ones at churches are usually free which makes them accessible to everyone. Thanks for adding that to the list.