I made a list.

Then, I listed everything needing a list.

Quick, Time Passes © Kathryn LeRoy

Hello friends,

Do you ever have days when you know you have missed something? Some appointment, birthday, or lunch date has disappeared into the ether, and you sit bumfuzzled.

Bumfuzzled (adjective): in a state of bewilderment: confused or perplexed

I don’t remember when I started making lists. I must have missed a couple of assignments or forgotten to study the dreaded twenty spelling words in elementary school. This child needed a system, a process, and a better strategy than her nine-year-old overloaded brain could manage.

Who knows who suggested writing a list of assignments, a teacher or my mother? I did not conjure up this torture that would follow me, and serve me, through the years. But, I must confess.

I am a prodigious list maker, list keeper, list forgeter.

Things Not on Your List © Kathryn LeRoy

For example, this week, our family carefully added their needs to the monthly Costco list so I would not forget staples or their favorite treats. What did I do?

I forgot the list.

I called my son, frantic that I had “forgotten the list.” His sharp tech skills came in handy. He took a photo of “the list” and texted it to me. He rescued my frazzled nerves, and once again, all was right with the world.

As I turned into the driveway, my phone rang. My patient and thoughtful husband asks, “Are you still at Costco? You forgot the list.” Too late.

I wondered if anyone else’s life was tenuously held in place by lists. Google to the rescue, “Why do we make lists?” I found not one answer but millions of ads for planners, digital and fancy paper notebooks, and an article espousing the benefits of making lists.

Abandoning Google, I noticed another list on my desk. The first item read: create a list for household tasks, personal tasks, garden tasks, home repairs, housecleaning, blog articles, picture book ideas, newsletter topics, and photography webinars.

“Etcetera. Etcetera. Etcetera.”
—King Mongkut of Siam, The King and I

I had a list for my lists, which still required other lists. The solution?

I turned off the computer, made cinnamon tea, and curled up to read. Problem solved!

Who needs a list when time is askew? © Kathryn LeRoy

One line can say a lot. I was challenged to do just that for “one-liner Wednesday.”

Tim Huff will inspire you to keep the only to-do list that matters.

Before music videos were a thing, Bob Dylan ran through a fast list in “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Paul Simon gave us the upbeat list of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.”

“Forget about your lists and do what you can because that’s all you can do.  Phone up the people you miss and tell them you love them.”
—Iain S. Thomas

✔ Rain © Kathryn LeRoy

Find a little wonder this week. Make a list, if you must, but keep first things first.

With gratitude,

Kathryn

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