LISTS CAN BE comforting things. They provide order and discipline in our otherwise often tumultuous lives. Lists are handy reminders of things that matter to us, big and small, important and incidental. Making lists distinguish us from the lesser primates.
Lists can be simple [grocery list] or complicated [how to…]; lists can be worthy [Xmas gift list] or unworthy [Nixon's enemies list]; lists entertain [my favorite movies] and impose [to-do list]. Some lists can be tackled alone [summer reading list], some require the participation of others [a court docket list].
But most lists are solitary endeavors. Listers are different than listeners. People who make lists are grasping, not at straws, but at memories, or hope. Some activity lists can be accomplished in a day [“things I have to do today”], others take much more time and effort [a bucket list].
Lists typically enumerate a set of items considered by the person creating the list as being in the same category. The danger is that categories can be confining, too exclusive, or antagonistic to creativity. Lists are active and inactive, animate and inanimate, commanding and discretionary. But whatever degree of involvement a list reflects, a certain amount of energy and enthusiasm is typically required; otherwise one would be considered…well, listless.
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