I'm a list guy.
I thought about this recently when I saw the title of Aubrey Plaza's new film, The To Do List. (Granted, her list is a bit more colorful than mine...). I almost always have a "to-do list." Things to do over the weekend. My list for the week ahead. My daily little punch-list that sits by my computer at work. Reminders of things to get done. People to see. Places to go.
I sometimes wonder what it says about a person who lives by the list. A bit OCD, perhaps. Time management gurus would applaud the lists, I suppose. They do help me to organize my life, or at least to not forget all the things that I want or need to accomplish. But for me, it's a bit more about the odd moments of satisfaction I get when I cross things off the list. There's some unusual sense of fulfillment that occurs whenever I am able to check off or cross off items from my list. It is finished. I have accomplished something. Now I may rest, or play, or do something less important.
I suspect I inherited this tendency from my mother, who was equally - if not more - obsessed with lists than I am. She was a librarian, and I suppose this makes sense. She maintained order in every aspect of her life, and I adopted this tendency. I even remember her adding items to her list after she had already done them, just for the pleasure of being able to cross them off her list. I won't admit to that much.
But I will admit that "write blog post" has been on my list(s) for weeks now... and it will be tremendously rewarding to go cross that one off, just as soon as I edit this and hit "publish."
