Right now The List is running my life. Posted on the refrigerator, it safeguards my favorite snacks and the accompanying sloth that goes so well with them. It is a harsh, constant, UPPERCASE reminder of tasks that must be done around the house before a baby shower at our home in August.
No one task on The List is extraordinarily hard or cost prohibitive--washing windows, touching up paint, etc--but the volume of tasks is rather daunting. Not only is The List long, but it’s growing. For example, as I was trimming the front hedges, I realized that the sidewalk needs to be washed and that we needed some new mulch underneath our wild roses. And come to think of it, our entry would look much nicer if we planted some flowers along the walkway. After finished the hedges, I humbly crossed that item off and added my new found jobs to The List. Just like the mythical Hydra, I had cut off the head of one monstrous task only to have 3 new tasks grow back.
At a lunch recently an escrow officer asked me how my weekend was to which I enthusiastically responded, “Great! I crossed two things off my list.” As she looked back at me with bewilderment, I realized The List was starting to infect all other aspects of my life. I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about it. The List had become an all encompassing, overgrown beast, much like the lavender on the side of the house that needed to be cut back. And even as I write about The List, its tasks sneak up in the form of metaphoric description.
While it will take a Herculean effort to perform my personal labors, I will complete my heroic journey. I will slay the paper dragon that guards the treasure in the refrigerator, rescue the amber 12 ounce maiden, and return to my kingdom of couch.
But for now, The List is running my life.
No one task on The List is extraordinarily hard or cost prohibitive--washing windows, touching up paint, etc--but the volume of tasks is rather daunting. Not only is The List long, but it’s growing. For example, as I was trimming the front hedges, I realized that the sidewalk needs to be washed and that we needed some new mulch underneath our wild roses. And come to think of it, our entry would look much nicer if we planted some flowers along the walkway. After finished the hedges, I humbly crossed that item off and added my new found jobs to The List. Just like the mythical Hydra, I had cut off the head of one monstrous task only to have 3 new tasks grow back.
At a lunch recently an escrow officer asked me how my weekend was to which I enthusiastically responded, “Great! I crossed two things off my list.” As she looked back at me with bewilderment, I realized The List was starting to infect all other aspects of my life. I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about it. The List had become an all encompassing, overgrown beast, much like the lavender on the side of the house that needed to be cut back. And even as I write about The List, its tasks sneak up in the form of metaphoric description.
While it will take a Herculean effort to perform my personal labors, I will complete my heroic journey. I will slay the paper dragon that guards the treasure in the refrigerator, rescue the amber 12 ounce maiden, and return to my kingdom of couch.
But for now, The List is running my life.
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