A Bucket List Might Be the Most Powerful Goal You Set

Theresa Miller – 60 by 60 List

Theresa Miller originally wanted to create a “50 by 50” list – 50 new things she’d like to do before she turned 50. But then COVID-19 happened, and Miller, a Senior Program Coordinator in Faculty Affairs,  revised to a “60 by 60” list.

“It’s mostly about things I’ve never tried, but always wanted to,” Miller said, “but there a few on there that pushed me out of my comfort zone.”

Of the 37 she’s checked off: smelled a corpse flower at North Carolina State, tried an escape room, gone ax throwing, ran/walked a 5K, skied on Beech Mountain, drove a 12-person bus, served on a jury, flew first class and beat cancer.

She just turned 55, and she’s still looking forward to white water rafting, a glass blowing class, kayaking, trying desserts from other countries and going vegan for a week, among others.

Sally Taylor – Learn to Throw Pottery

Sally Taylor has been curious about pottery since she moved to North Carolina in 2008, inspired by the state’s rich history of ceramics.

But life got in the way of Taylor fulfilling her dream to learn how to create her own pottery until a chat with a colleague reminded Taylor, a Research Program Leader for the Duke Office of Clinical Research of her long-dormant interest.

Part of Taylor’s bucket list item is checked off after taking classes at Delores Pottery, but her next step is venturing into the Duke Arts Annex to learn more about “making more lumpy, bumpy mugs, bowls and votives.”

“(I’m) still very much a beginner but love the opportunity for quiet focus on something totally new,” she said. “It’s also frankly fun getting a bit dirty and messy, and the tactile experience is something completely different from my day-to-day work.”

Ryan Stoltzfus – Hiking Long Distance Trails

Ryan Stoltzfus, a Physical Therapist, started backpacking in 2017 and it changed his life. Learning that what he needed to survive could fit on his back helped him to adopt a minimalist approach in other facets of life. And it also helped him realize he could sustain himself with whatever he could carry or find in nature.

In 2020, that led to hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail for a “physically exhausting but mentally and spiritually thrilling” journey.

That experience has led to a bevy of long distance thru hikes on his bucket list: the Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, and the Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Trails – the last two to complete the “Triple Crown” with his already accomplished Appalachian Trail.

If he tackles the other two trails on the “Triple Crown,” he wants to be able to take the 4 to 6 month break needed to complete the full length in one hike.

“I know I could break them up in sections,” Stoltzfus said. “However, it just feels wrong to me to do that, and I love the longer distance in one whole journey.”

Melanie Kranz – Writing Books with Her Sister

Four years ago, Melanie Kranz took a leap of faith and moved to North Carolina from Tennessee to begin working at Duke.

It was the first time Kranz, now Administrative Coordinator for the Duke University Hospital Chair of the Department of Surgery, lived farther than 20 minutes from her family.

To stay connected to her sister, Sharla, whom she calls her “polar opposite, but we’re incredibly close,” the two worked together to write and self-publish a children’s book, “Princess Sophie's Ice Cream Flight.” The pair wrote under the pen name Valencia Blake, a combination of their middle names.

“Collaborating with my sister on this book has been a meaningful way to stay connected and ease some of that distance,” Kranz said.

The two already have cranked out a second book and Kranz is ready “to see Princess Sophie’s journey through for as long as possible with my sister. It’s been a fun experience to build something together.”

But there’s still her lifelong dream of writing her own book. “Someday,” she said.

Ginger Newbold – See the Northern Lights in Norway

In elementary school, Ginger Newbold did a report on Norway and became fascinated with the country’s culture, its dress and its natural phenomenon, the Northern Lights.

“They were mesmerizing to me back then, and I am still in awe of them,” said Newbold, Administrative Manager in the Gross Anatomy/HFT Labs and Anatomical Gifts Program.

Even now, Newbold searches for photos of the Northern Lights online and looks at pictures several times a week. She follows the Aurora Borealis Observatory in Senja Norway on social media, amazed by the breathtaking videos that highlight the glowing greens and blues in the night sky.

Newbold hopes to visit Norway in next two years to cross off her lifelong bucket list item. But if that’s not possible, she’ll settle for viewing the Northern Lights in Iceland or Canada’s Northwest Territories.

“If I leave this earth without visiting Norway, I have instructed my family to take my cremated remains and sprinkle them in Norway when the Northern Lights are active,” Newbold said.

Dawn Simone – A ‘Carpe Diem’ List

As a Clinical Nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at Duke Raleigh Hospital, Dawn Simone sees a lot.

“Sometimes lives are lost far too early,” Simone said. “It gives a deep appreciation for living in the moment. I have embraced the motto ‘Carpe Diem’ and seize the moment I can of every day.”

Simone’s “Carpe Diem” bucket list is constantly changing as she completes items, but always gaining new aspirations when she feels another urge calling to her.

Recently, she crossed off a trip to Italy and Greece. Her long-term goal to finally put all her photos into a scrapbook found new meaning after the death of her mother in February.

She wants to make a recipe book for her three children that can be passed on for generations, write a book and travel to Puerto Rico.

“My bucket list is constantly evolving. It gives me something to perpetually look forward to,” Simone said. “My end goal is to have lived a life with no regrets.”