Welcome to a new week.
I don’t know about you but I start every week with a mental (and sometimes old-fashioned pen-to-paper) list of things I’d like to get done before the week ends. This week it’s a mixed bag of outdoor clean up, writing goals and home prep as we plan for another round of family visiting (yay!!).
The To Do List
I’m a big fan of crossing things off a list. John seems continuously amused whenever I make a list and dutifully cross things off it as I proudly get down to business. I’ve even been known to write something that I JUST FINISHED onto a list just so I could have the pleasure of crossing it off.
Even I can admit that’s going a bit far.
I describe my love of lists and my ongoing to-do list to you, not to elicit congratulatory messages. I’m betting my lists pale in comparison to most of what you folks out there have on a daily, weekly, hourly basis. I do it because I have a neighbour who seems to be mildly obsessed with ‘what on earth do I do over here all day every day?’
Each time we visit, whether it’s for a bite over here, a drink over at their place or a conversation in between, inevitably the question comes…
“Are you keeping busy?”
“Have you got something to do?”
“Are you managing to find something to do?”
“Did you find a project to keep yourself busy?”
There are countless variations, I’m learning, of the exact same question.
Here’s the rub…
The kicker is, I always fumble in my response. Maybe it’s because my proclivity for lists is really just a clever ruse to cover for my complete lack of functional memory. So, to be honest, I really just can’t remember all the things I’ve done in a week. But I know I’ve done stuff.
How do I know? ‘Cuz stuff got done. Obviously.
It’s the most bizarre paradox. In the morning, I go through my to-do list for the day and there are always multiple items. And at the end of the day, I usually have something that I need to make a mental note to get done tomorrow because I just didn’t get to it. So as I said, stuff gets done.
So… what to do?
Why then, do I never have an answer for my curious neighbour? I usually fumble around for a bit, yammering about dusting or some other mundane task. As if I’ve spent a whole week just dusting. Every. Single. Thing. Not likely.
I could respond with the simple, succinct answer, “I write.” Hmm… not ready for that one yet.
Instead, I’ve decided to add to my to-do list; ‘come up with an answer to the inescapable question.’
I’m open to suggestions. Please.
One response to “What To Do?”
[…] getting up when much of the world is still quiet. My thoughts are clearer. The muddled, fabricated to-do list hasn’t yet permeated the peaceful veil of the valley waking up. I enjoy it so much that I […]