Raiding a Bar With a Band of Pirates

Shortly after Mardi Gras and the big parade I was talking with a friend of mine who came to last year’s parade and hung around for the after-party. Last year there was no formal Krewe Party so we made it up as we went along and ended up in the bar side of a local Italian restaurant.

In the conversation he mentioned that he had a lot of fun, “Raiding a bar with a band of pirates,” and that night had fulfilled something that he didn’t even know was on his bucket list.

I started laughing because I had never actually considered one, that we were a “band of pirates” and two, that we “raided” places. But that’s exactly what happened that night. A gnarly-looking band of foul-mouthed pirates took over a bar and spent the evening drinking and carousing. Just what you would expect them to do.

Which is so far from what I do in my real life that it is shocking that I was even a part of it. But they say that clothes really do make the man and apparently putting on the coat and hat and sword really do make the pirate.

Since the conversation I have thought back to him saying that it fulfilled something he didn’t even know was on his bucket list. And after processing the superficial meaning of the conversation and continuing to come back to it, it has occurred to me that this is what life is about.

Being open to the things that you don’t even know are on your bucket list. Living life wide open and experiencing it as it happens and loving it. Good, bad, and ugly, just take it, live it, and love it.

I’ve been talking about fun stuff, but as I’m aging I’m also learning an appreciation for the tougher things, the painful things and learning to be thankful for all the times I’ve come through, good and bad. Because it gives me experience to draw from and confidence that next time perhaps it won’t be so hard or painful. And thankful for the practice of living life now so next time it gets bad I won’t despair.

I guess what I’m ultimately trying to say is that along with enjoying the journey, just be open to what life brings you. Or as those gnarly pirates might say, “Storm and plunder, baby!”

♥

Harvest Moon Massage is Decatur, Alabama’s Exclusive Provider of Ashi-Thai Massage