The Art of Listmaking

There are stages to writing a list.
 

First there is the gentle thrill of anticipation as I contemplate the paper in front of me. I may not yet have a subject for my list, but just the thought of one gives me a sense of purpose. Then comes the extraordinary sense of satisfaction from having created a rigid timetable of impossible tasks that has taken a disproportionate amount of time and thought. Finally, as I look back on the list, my head is clear again and I feel an all consuming calm.
 

It doesn't matter if I never look at it again.
 

I can't hold more than three things in my head at a time. As soon as I hit number four I'd better have a pen and paper nearby or I'm in trouble. So I make lists.
 

Hello. My name is Morgan, and I am a list maker.
 

I love making lists: to do, to make, to write, to buy. I make multiple lists everyday. I misplace them and write them again. Charles Green Shaw said, Charles Green Shaw: "Real happiness consists in not what we actually accomplish, but what we think we accomplish." My lists clutter my desk and my purse; little paper gnats giving me a perceived sense of accomplishment.
 

Psychologists say that obsessive compulsive list makers {I guess that includes me} are trying to create an illusion of control in otherwise chaotic lives. While my life isn't exactly "chaotic," my head is. Filled with ideas, projects, vacation destinations and other things things; and always going a hundred miles a minute. It can be exhausting. So, I see nothing wrong with the above theories. I have come to look at my list making as a medium for creativity. Some people paint, some "write." While I would like to say that my creative outlet is taking photos, in all reality I make lists. My stories, blog posts, and essays begin with lists. On whatever is at hand— often on post-its or napkins—I jot down fragments of ideas in the order that my mind offers them.
 

This is the first step - purging the pieces without structure. It’s notating in shorthand what will go in the container, whether the container is a blog post, a life experience or the garbage bin. My lists usually start small, and then expand, each individual tick becoming its own list, like a nesting doll.

Imagine my excitement when, during a rare trip to the book store, I stumbled upon this...
 

Listogrophy: Your Life In Lists
 

It's genius! Complete with quirky watercolor illustrations and prompts on every page. It's a non-journal journal for the OCLMs (obsessive compulsive list makers) like me!