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List-less: for over-thinkers, over-planners, and over-its

I quit lists.

Making them. Carrying them. Doing things that require them.

Functional. Aspirational. Gone.

It’s an experiment, both loving and brutal. Yes.

Because I’m wondering what might happen if I stop piling things on the plate of my future self.

And I’m watching to see what I choose if I must choose in the moment.

Act or release. Now or maybe never.

Trusting the vital to float back to the surface – at the grocery store, in my work, and in my self.

I’m anticipating little deaths. These will make way for bigger life.

I list my life away, you see.

Maybe you do it, too.

Or maybe you practice some other form of  life-postponement and pretend it’s just organisation.

If that’s the case, I wrote this little list for you, my love. Carry it in your pocket if you wish:

live.

life.

now.

 

xo

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14 comments


  • Maya
    February 27, 2011

    Thank you so much for this post! LOVING IT and it is so what I needed to hear/read! :) ))

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  • Paula Swenson, Dream Advocate
    February 27, 2011

    Oh Sweet Lisa – you’ve done it again. lovely. calm. brave.
    looking forward to the results. . .

    ~peace + joy~
    Paula

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  • Bridget
    February 27, 2011

    I like your list!
    And I’m reveling in the irony, because I just committed to having a weekly list with my business manager.
    Mebbe there is a happy medium.

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  • Nicola Paterson
    February 27, 2011

    Even shopping lists? ;-)

     

  • Lisa Baldwin
    February 27, 2011

    Yes, dear Nicola. Even shopping lists!

    Which is not to say that shopping lists aren’t useful (of course!) or even that other lists aren’t useful.

    I’m just seeing what happens, and I’m most curious to see what happens from a place of ridiculously radical list-quitting. Voom!

    Thanks, everyone, for being curious with me. I adore you. xo

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  • CJ
    February 27, 2011

    Love it!!

    My lists are a clutching habit. I’ll lose something, I’ll forget it, it’s awesome and it won’t come back!!

    All silly stories of lack.

    Thanks for posting this.
    CJ

     

  • Kylie
    February 27, 2011

    Mmm. I like your list, Lisa. I’m still not much of a list-maker. I feel like I should be (so thanks; this post makes me feel much better!), but it’s just never caught on for me. I do little lists, from time to time. But they’re more in-the-moment sorts of things for me.

    Anyway, a clink of glasses to letting lists float away!

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  • David Cain
    February 27, 2011

    Love the idea and I’m interested to see what happens.

    I spent the first 27 years of my life resisting lists of all kinds, and it wasn’t until I started making them that my life started to become, uh rewarding. So I’m a pretty devoted fan of lists, seeing as how being listless has historically left me running in circles.

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  • shāna
    February 27, 2011

    my first reaction was oh no, no way. but you know lisa, you may have a point there. i never have a grocery list so that’s not an issue for me but i DO make lists and derive some twisted pleasure from ticking things off. my only concern w/ this experiment is forgetting something muy importante! my overburdened brain seems to forget things lately. we’ll see. i love hearing & sharing in on your explorations. much love…

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  • Char Brooks
    February 28, 2011

    I adore your style Lisa.

    xox

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  • chris zydel
    March 1, 2011

    Oh my darlingest, dearhearted girl…..

    I have never in my LIFE made a list… and I’ve always felt so GUILTY about it. Like it just proved what a chaotic creative I truly was.

    So thank you, thank you, thank you for the permission to rejoice and celebrate my list-less self!!

    Adoring you madly… as always….

    Chris

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  • rachael maddox
    March 1, 2011

    yup. love this so much. thank you.

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  • Britt
    March 5, 2011

    I used to be a wee bit list-obsessed, and I, also, tried giving it up for a while.

    It was a good break, and I learned that, guess what, they sky doesn’t fall in if 1) you don’t have a list of every possible thing every crazy person in your life (yourself included) thinks you SHOULD be doing and 2) you don’t do every single thing on the list. I learned that without lists, the things that REALLY matter get done anyway.

    That having been said, I’m back to lists, because they do have their place: as a guide to help me choose the right work, rather than a straight-jacket or slave-driver.

    Good luck with your experiment!

     

  • alina
    January 15, 2012

    huh,

    I have made so many lists I’m never able to follow, written so many reminders in calendars I usually loose and somehow I still manage to meet any kinds of deadlines.

    well, at least for most of the time.

    anyway, will try to get inspired by your action and not feel guilty about ignoring planning.

    have fun!
    Alina

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