Poll The Reverse Bucket List for ME/CFS: If You Were Well.....What Would You Do?

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
A big difference between ME/CFS and FM and depression is many people with ME/CFS/FM know exactly what they would do if they got well.

It's good to dream!

I know what I would do - given the free time and money - me and the dogs would backpack the Pacific Crest Trail top to bottom in the Sierra Nevada. What would you do?

800px-Sierra_Nevada-terabass.jpg
 

Merry

Well-Known Member
I dream of eating fruit. Blueberries, cantaloupe, really ripe peaches. Maybe I could happen upon some wild strawberries somewhere after all these years. That's would be my start with tasting long-forbidden food.

I dream of visiting Serpent Mound during the summer solstice to see how the serpent's eye lines up with the sun. Serpent Mound is a hundred miles away, not that far if I were well.

I would like to browse in a big library for at least an hour. I would like to be able to read for hours, to comprehend what I'm reading, and, later, to remember what I read.

Once again I could garden. I'd plant heirloom plants, flowers and vegetables. I would especially like to plant the pale yellow, lemon-scented iris that grew beside the old farmhouse where I grew up.

A decade ago I got this idea that my son and I could put together a book on quirky yard art. We could travel around, he could take the photos, and I could interview owners and write about them and their yards and about our adventures on the road. (Not too likely that my son would actually want to do this -- or find the time -- but I can dream. . . .)
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
I dream of eating fruit. Blueberries, cantaloupe, really ripe peaches. Maybe I could happen upon some wild strawberries somewhere after all these years. That's would be my start with tasting long-forbidden food.

I dream of visiting Serpent Mound during the summer solstice to see how the serpent's eye lines up with the sun. Serpent Mound is a hundred miles away, not that far if I were well.

I would like to browse in a big library for at least an hour. I would like to be able to read for hours, to comprehend what I'm reading, and, later, to remember what I read.

Once again I could garden. I'd plant heirloom plants, flowers and vegetables. I would especially like to plant the pale yellow, lemon-scented iris that grew beside the old farmhouse where I grew up.

A decade ago I got this idea that my son and I could put together a book on quirky yard art. We could travel around, he could take the photos, and I could interview owners and write about them and their yards and about our adventures on the road. (Not too likely that my son would actually want to do this -- or find the time -- but I can dream. . . .)
Simple desires Merry. May you eat baskets of fruit in front of the library some day...

A fantastic heirloom garden and lots of fruit trees is definitely on my list.
 

GracieJ

Active Member
Do I even remember??

A trip up and down the AlCan over several months, visiting every little hamlet and indulging in photography with just the right equipment.

A huge English garden.

A kitchen with double super sized appliances for all the catering I would do for parties with friends. Add in the ability to eat the food!

Oh, cannot forget the extended stay in Morocco.
 

GracieJ

Active Member
I was at work and had to cut my post short. So I am back. In 2006, I optimistically wrote out a huge bucket list. Had forgotten it completely, life has been so intense coping. I reflected on that list for a while yesterday. There are several other things on these lists for all of us, I am sure.

The other one I will add here - I would play my piano again, lots of ragtime. I am unable to memorize music; maybe I could figure that one out finally.
 

Merry

Well-Known Member
@GracieJ, I would like to hire you to cook for me. Cooking has become such drudgery for me. You would be welcome, of course, to use the vegetables and fruits in my garden. And perhaps you'd be willing to cater a party for all of us? And play the piano at the party?
 

GracieJ

Active Member
@That just makes me smile.

Would you read aloud while I cook? Do I even remember how to cook?? lol

Just imagine. It sounds like heaven, all these things.
 

Merry

Well-Known Member
@That just makes me smile.

Would you read aloud while I cook? Do I even remember how to cook?? lol

Just imagine. It sounds like heaven, all these things.

Do you mean read the recipes to you? I could do that. Would be fun to work together.
 

GracieJ

Active Member
That would work, too.

I was thinking of one of the books from that huge library.

What book would you read first?
 

Paw

Well-Known Member
I would go back and relive my professional life (and assorted aspirations) with greater balance and less forced energy.

Oh wait, you didn't say we could go back in time?

Hiking, camping, and travel, yes, but even more: I would probably find a significant other to spend my days and nights with. Since my son moved off to college it has always felt deceptive on my part to offer intimacy to others, given that I spend so much of my time as a boat anchor.
 

Merry

Well-Known Member
That would work, too.

I was thinking of one of the books from that huge library.

What book would you read first?

Oh. I said I was going to the library. I forgot. I wanted to browse to find books I didn't know existed. If you want me to read to you while you cook, let me know what you'd like for me to look for in the library. PM me.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
I would go back and relive my professional life (and assorted aspirations) with greater balance and less forced energy.

Oh wait, you didn't say we could go back in time?

Hiking, camping, and travel, yes, but even more: I would probably find a significant other to spend my days and nights with. Since my son moved off to college it has always felt deceptive on my part to offer intimacy to others, given that I spend so much of my time as a boat anchor.
What was your professional life before, Paw?
 

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