I feel the need for lists lately - in abundance. Already I’m a devoted and energetic listmaker, and this tendency has been churning overtime. Lists are good for approaching life changes and big events, and soon I expect to be moving house. Lists allow me to feel more control by seeing things laid out in a sensible scheme. They also alleviate mind clutter when I’m daydreaming about things I can’t afford or accomplish just yet. It kicks off the process of going from unprepared and anxious to confident and ready.
I was born to make lists, and can claim having many a listmaker in the family. We believe in the power of the list. We enjoy the soothing satisfaction of crossing items off. Few topics are immune to my interest in sorting, ordering, and connecting them in a list. When I get excited about something - like cute chefs on tv or choice names for dogs - a list is the fastest way to collect my thoughts before they evaporate. It’s a race against time to document my obsessions rather than suffer the consequences of trying to remember what I was thinking about. Writing it out in sentences and paragraphs slows me down and ensures I’ll forget something.
As someone who likes to be prepared, I look at a list and it just makes sense to me. It is succinct and light and not overly ornamental. When I look back at my journal I can see at a glance what I was obsessing over at that time - be it baked goods or my health. So a list of items to send in a care package to kids in college one day is actually me beginning to think about what kind of parent I’d like to be (if life brings that to me). Apparently the kind who sends quarters for the laundry, beauty products, and brownies. It is a method of capturing what my younger self dreamed about for my older self.
My favorite New Year’s tradition is to create a list of everything I can look forward to in the coming year, from the big excitement of concerts and vacations to the small delights like new bath towels or movies coming out. It is a remedy for the post holiday blues.
There is a book - 14,000 Things To Be Happy About - entirely in list format. Page after page of a list of simple pleasant things, such as the sound of walking over gravel or the sensation of someone playing with your hair. Reading just a few pages puts things in perspective.
Some of my favorite lists are not useful or practical. These lists serve no purpose other than to make me feel I’ve accomplished something or set things in order. Or sometimes a random thought crosses my path, and it becomes a list. Like this one that I’ve titled American Women Married to British Men:
-Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
-Liv Tyler & Royston Langdon
-Madonna & Guy Ritchie
-Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale
-Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany
I was born to make lists, and can claim having many a listmaker in the family. We believe in the power of the list. We enjoy the soothing satisfaction of crossing items off. Few topics are immune to my interest in sorting, ordering, and connecting them in a list. When I get excited about something - like cute chefs on tv or choice names for dogs - a list is the fastest way to collect my thoughts before they evaporate. It’s a race against time to document my obsessions rather than suffer the consequences of trying to remember what I was thinking about. Writing it out in sentences and paragraphs slows me down and ensures I’ll forget something.
As someone who likes to be prepared, I look at a list and it just makes sense to me. It is succinct and light and not overly ornamental. When I look back at my journal I can see at a glance what I was obsessing over at that time - be it baked goods or my health. So a list of items to send in a care package to kids in college one day is actually me beginning to think about what kind of parent I’d like to be (if life brings that to me). Apparently the kind who sends quarters for the laundry, beauty products, and brownies. It is a method of capturing what my younger self dreamed about for my older self.
My favorite New Year’s tradition is to create a list of everything I can look forward to in the coming year, from the big excitement of concerts and vacations to the small delights like new bath towels or movies coming out. It is a remedy for the post holiday blues.
There is a book - 14,000 Things To Be Happy About - entirely in list format. Page after page of a list of simple pleasant things, such as the sound of walking over gravel or the sensation of someone playing with your hair. Reading just a few pages puts things in perspective.
Some of my favorite lists are not useful or practical. These lists serve no purpose other than to make me feel I’ve accomplished something or set things in order. Or sometimes a random thought crosses my path, and it becomes a list. Like this one that I’ve titled American Women Married to British Men:
-Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
-Liv Tyler & Royston Langdon
-Madonna & Guy Ritchie
-Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale
-Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany
No comments:
Post a Comment