Loving the List

People who know me well know that I don't like to be too busy. And by "too busy" I mean "having more than two things to do in the foreseeable future."  (I never said that my definition was a reasonable one . . . )

Enter the list.

I love a good list. Preferably one written with a decent pen--actually, two pens, each a different color, for emphasis.  My lists vary, depending upon season and need.  Knee deep in summer, I still find the need to put things down on paper, even if I don't feel the need to change my clothes or brush my hair.  The list to the left is one I put together earlier this week.  It's not my finest work.  You'll notice my penmanship is a bit sloppy and the space between lines is not ideal.  But it'll do, pig.  It'll do.

Not all of my lists end up on paper.  In fact, some of the most important listings I compile happen strictly in my head.  And it is there, amidst the ever-greying matter, where the list's true powers become most evident.  Be warned, though.  Lists, like just about everything else in life, can be used for good or evil.  We've all fallen into the monkey-mind trap of reviewing only the crap, the darkness, the bad stuff, even though it does not one whit of good for us or for the world.

So I've been trying like heck these days to compile only those mental lists that Glenda the Good Witch would approve of.

Here's a portion of this morning's life-saving list that I uttered to myself, mid-walk:

•Awesome family

•Cicadas (song and empty shells)

•Bird song

•Porch parties

•Bare feet

•Hammocks

•Upcoming vacations

•Scrabble, maybe Snatch It

•Funny friends 

•Moran's Tap Room

Nice list, but life-saving? Really?

Yeah, pretty much.  

Creating and rehearsing a mental list of good things provides a powerful antidote to all that hard stuff out there.  A list of good things can admirably duke it out with just about every ugly above-the-fold headline out there.   In the midst of everything that feels so hard and hopeless in life these days, there are these shining little gewgaws--moments and mementos--that can fill us with fresh air.

So, go make yourself a good list and start feeling better.  And don't be too judgy.  Just compile it, in true "brainstorm" fashion.  Then, rinse and repeat.  And, for a few minutes, be that crazy person who's talking to herself, letting the happy things tumble quietly out of your mouth, all the little moments, the names of awesome people, the perfect tomato you ate yesterday, the way the morning light paints the treetops.  

Frankly, the world could use your joyful exhalations,  your little life-giving lists tickling the leaves and alighting upon the wings of a passing cardinal.   We could all benefit from something good going viral.