List Love

Oh I do so love a list. There is something so satisfying about making a list - except perhaps if it's a To Do list, in which case, ticking an item off the list is perhaps slightly more satisfying. Although in my case, as a supreme artist of procrastination, making a To Do list doesn't necessarily mean things will get done. Often the list-making exercise is itself a way of avoiding the doing...

I recall Anairam over at fra(a)iing - who has a wonderful ongoing Little Lists project  - making the distinction between boring lists and non-boring lists: 

{Photo by Anairam}

Frankly, I like all lists.  It's often the act of list making that is as important as the content for me and I am a compulsive list maker - shopping lists, birthday lists, books I've read and books I'd like to read lists, creative ideas lists, places I've been and places I would like to go lists, favourite movies, favourite smells, favourite flavours, general life aspiration lists - big and little, short and long term...  You name it, at one point I've probably made a list about it. 

And I was absolutely bowled over by this lovely list of lists recently. I am SO going to make a list like this.

Inspiration lists are especially fabulous.  I love to gather ideas and there are so many creative people who are able to spark creativity in others with their idea lists.  Keri Smith (supreme and original creative soul) offers wonderful lists - 100 ideas, 10 ways to infuse your work with your personality, and good books, to name but a few. I love this creative list of inexpensive things to do and the blogging world abounds with places that essentially provide lists of creative prompts - Sunday Scribblings, Self Portrait Challenge and Inspire me Thursday, for example.  

And there are even places where you can go to find out how to generate lists of ideas. 

I love trivia lists too.  Especially bizarre ones.  I mean, who wouldn't want to read about 10 fascinating buildings never built , Top 10 failed apocalyptic predictions, Top 10 things found on UK shopping lists and 10 "popular" poisons? You never know when this stuff might be useful.

By far my favourite lists to read online though are those that tell me something more about the person who has written them.  I love the meme lists that one sees on blogs, which offer glimpses into the personality behind them.  I know they're often quite superficial but they speak to the same part of me that seeks to peek over garden fences and browse on other people's blogs without always revealing myself in the comments (I hate the word lurk in this context - it makes it sound so much worse than it is, don't you think?)  

Some might call this tendency nosiness but I like to think of it as a healthy interest in my world, and people, and what makes them tick.  I am inspired and comforted by, and feel a kinship with people out there through the teeny glimpses I have into their worlds.  And I love that we can do this on a global scale via this medium and the memes that we share.

{Women Make Lists by Joan Snyder}

Some people even turn their lists into works of art. Wonderful.

One of my recent favourites was the visual list that was doing the rounds and which even my lovely brother spent some time compiling (a friend sent me one too but she hasn't given me permission to post it so unfortunately I can't share that with you yet).

So, as we approach the weekend, I leave you with this - a sample from my most-recently-discovered-favourite-places-to-browse-for-photographic-beauty-and-interesting-glimpses list:

a view to

bloom, grow, love

la porte rouge

nectar and light

orange pattern

purple bottle

In the meantime I must get on with...

1. Bathing and dressing for the day (should I make a quick list of outfit options?!)

2. Work

3. Grocery shopping

4. Dinner with friends

5. Writing a list of things to do over the weekend...

• Seek out wedding invitation ideas
  
• Go to the post office
•  
• 
  

(Okay, so it's not going to be the busiest weekend and I agree with Anairam, this last one is a pretty boring list but I feel so much better for having started my day with it!)

Happy Friday!