I jumped out of bed at 11:30 with another thought that I wanted to add to my list of things to do; this time it was transcribing a poem from scribble to computer file. Sleep interrupted, my normal trajectory of ideas began to float into my vision, like a three dimensional photo made out of a "lite-brite" I once saw in a DC museum. Depending on your position it looked like art, lights or nothing, and all views were interesting. Of course the subject was the naked parents of the artist, this made it even more intriguing for me as a therapist. But that is another story. The story I really find compelling is the one about how we organize our organizing and end up lost and forgotten, much like the email that has sunk to last on the list and no longer holds sway. I am suggesting that we over determine our lives to the point of absurdity, all to be well rounded instead of singularly focused folks. Specialists are a dying breed while generalists abound when we look at how we lead our lives. Tonight, after taking my daughter to the mall, I made a new recipe and drove off to show a friend my haircut. Upon return, I was on-line and then watched "Friends" with my teen and got in bed. And, my reactive leaving of the comfortable bed was to do. TO DO. If I were a specialist, say in poetry or lite-brite art, I would feel as torn when I should be reading a book, magazine and online story, cook dinner, call clients, call friends, write poetry, read email, upload the photos from the party I held on Sunday, do laundry, the list doesn't end. I am wondering if I could assign months for each topic, live and breathe it and see what the final result would be and what would fall away.As a matter of fact, that will be my new thing. I will categorize my todo lists and pick a category each month and see if I write more poems, or finish my work, or try to make strawberry shortcake. My new motto is :TO DO LESS. I will let you know how it goes.
