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After the Quarantine: Bucket List Edition
- I Am B Woman
- Sep 3, 2020
- 5 min read
Quarantine has definitely kept us from the regular humdrum of life such as working in close quarters, sitting in a full restaurant without a mask, and travelling internationally. What seems safe and normal now is high-risk for everyone and the safest activity we can do right now is stay at home and daydream about a better future. B.C. and A.C. no longer stands for (Before/After Christ) for us living through this pandemic. I like to dub this period the “Before/After COVID-19” lifestyle. So here is our “After COVID-19 Bucket list by the IAMBWOMAN staff.
KimAllNaturelle’s Bucket List
Despite the challenges that we are facing in 2020, I'm grateful for the time to rest, self-reflect and re-evaluate my life, passions and priorities. Life is too short to play it safe or follow the narrow path society tries to force onto you . I'm so done with caring about other people's expectations of me. It's time to do me! Here are my bucket list items:
Experience the beauty of Asia & Africa
Quarantine got your girl antsy. I'm tired of North America! Aside from the food, I want to explore the similarities and differences between the various cultures and mine even if that means travelling by my lonesome.
Work abroad for a short time
I want to, in all honesty, enjoy a break from this pervasively racialized society. I've experienced it when visiting Haiti and loved not feeling the weight of my blackness. I'm curious how other countries’ racial culture, pervasive or not, impacts their people in the workplace.
Master the Spanish language
Beyond the employability, travelease that Spanish gives me, it is by far the easiest next language for me to master since I’m already fluent in Haitian-Creole. I was at an intermediate level but then moved to Texas. Central American Spanish IS JUST NOT THE SAME AS Caribbean Spanish. My brain just cannot compute lol. Once quarantine worldwide is lifted, I need to do some serious immersion.
Professionally record my music 🎵
I am a songwriter at heart and have been writing since the 3rd grade. I have a lot of music just sitting and collecting dust. I’ve only shared them with my closest friends but never with large crowds.
Learn to swim effectively
I’m a 29 year old Haitian-American woman from Miami that does not know how to swim. Embarrassing, I know. But I really want to find a low-impact, physical hobby that will be great for my lifetime fitness goals. But first, I need to learn how to tread water lol.
Jai Highness’s Bucket List
To be honest, I don’t know how the world is ever going back to the way things used to be but I hope our new normal is a joyful one. The first thing I’ll enjoy is being able to leave the house without a mask and walking down a crowded street without the fear of death lurking behind me. Sitting inside or outside the restaurant and staying out past 10 PM because the night is still young! Oh yes, I am counting down the days when I can recall this stressful time as a distance memory in the history books. Here’s are the things I wish to accomplish in 2021 or 2022, who knows at this point lol.
Visit Jamaica again to get some curry goat and enjoy all the amenities at the Royalton that I didn’t get to enjoy. Frankly, just book a caribbean vacation with a light itinerary and just relax. I’m too old for a jam packed schedule.
Move into my own place (apartment/condo/townhouse) in a new city. Experience the independently single life, and not another episode of “Full House” lol. #mylife
Go to the gym to build these thighs, legs, and abs muscles ;-)
Find a home church to fellowship and grow.
Learn more haitian cuisines for myself and future family <3.
Enter the next phase of my career in a more managerial capacity. We got goals, new levels!
Finally, I’d love to go back to Vegas one good time to see a great concert (Janet Jackson). Hopefully concerts still exist in the future lol.
Fabulously Jih’s Bucket list
We are living in unprecedented time and honestly doing any extracurricular activities have long escaped my mind . This is the first summer where I am doing absolutely nothing - fun. I have been in hibernation mode. I wouldn’t exactly say that I am living out of fear because of the pandemic but it has caused a shift in my emotions, feeling overwhelmed and just wanting to hide under a rock and return when things calm down or return to “somewhat normal”. One thing I know for sure is this too shall pass and I will bloom again. I am an adventurous person and love aesthetically pleasing things, here’s a few things that I’d like to do post COVID-19.
One: Attend a pottery class
My only recollection of seeing pottery being created is in movies. I’m not exactly sure why but I want to get my hands dirty and experience creating my own piece.
Two: ride on a hot air balloon
I know the risk and dangers of riding a hot air balloon but it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.
Three: Take a trip to St. Lucia
I love traveling to new places and St. Lucia is one of the islands that I would love to visit. For my thirtieth birthday St. Lucia was at the top of my destination list; however, it was very expensive and I wanted to have a reasonable price that all of my friends could afford as well. My cousins and I had plans on traveling to St. Lucia this year and then the pandemic cancelled that. One way or another some time next year it has to happen.
Four: Launch my website
I have been working with my friend who is a graphic designer for many months to create my website. It is completed, however I had intended on launching this year and experienced a shift with the pandemic. I lost all motivation to launch my website and create the products that I would have available in my shop. My website doesn’t only have a shop but it also has a blog section. I started writing many years ago on Wordpress and took a break (life happens). After discovering my love for writing again I decided to pick up the pieces where I left off.
You can check out my old blog posts here in the meantime: https://laviedejihane.wordpress.com/
Five: Launch an EBook
Ever since I was young, I've had a journal and would write down my thoughts, my days, and my experiences. I have a couple of composition notebooks full of poetry I used to write. A few years ago I started a blank Microsoft word document titled Bits and Pieces of Me where I started to write more poetry.
This pandemic has definitely made me understand the fragility of life and how we must appreciate the family, career, and homes we live in currently because the lifestyle you are accustomed to can change at any time, either for the better or worse. We pray for all the families and individuals who are experiencing hardships during this time. I pray you continue to have faith and hope and know that you will persevere through this. Just know 2021 has to be greater than this year lol. Tell us about the dreams deferred or dreams realized during this quarantine. What do you have planned after the pandemic is over? Comment down below and let us know!
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