Another List Instead of Writing a Paper

Hello, my name is Sarah Keeler and I’m a compulsive list maker.

Yes, I’m one of those annoying people that writes out everything they need to accomplish during the day on post-it notes and sticks them all over the place. I don’t really do it to remind myself of what I need to get done, but rather because I think it makes me feel like I’m taking a step toward accomplishing everything I need to get done. In reality, lists probably harm me more than they help me. I’m sure those couple hundred trees I kill every year in multicolored sticky notes alone aren’t too appreciative either.

If I were a normal, balanced person, decent organizational skills would come hand in hand with my obsessive list-making tendencies. Anyone who has spent longer than five minutes in my presence or has even briefly glanced at the current state of my living space will quickly inform you that I am accomplished at many things (in “many” I include the accomplishment of tasks such as breathing, walking and dressing oneself) but being organized is not one of them.

Somehow, listing things in an orderly fashion in a word document, the margin of my notebook or on a bright green post-it note makes me feel more in control of my life. If I can squeeze every last piece of my existence into one space, my life becomes not the looming, smelly, unidentified monster hiding in a closet waiting for me to open the door, but a friendly pygmy puff, small enough to carry around in my pocket and friendly enough to cuddle with.

Blogs are more eco-friendly than post-it notes, so why not use blog space to satisfy my list-making compulsion? At least none of my roommates will have to open the bathroom cabinents to find bright orange sequences of Sarah’s favorite big bands of the 1930’s anymore.

List 1: Countries I need to visit

• The United Kingdom
• Ireland (i.e. the part of Ireland that is not part of the United Kingdom)
• Italy
• Spain
• India
• Norway
• Greece
• Czech Republic
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Peru
• Chile
• Indonesia
• China
• Japan
• France
• Austria
• Germany
• Israel
• South Africa
• Egypt
• Portugal

Basically, I want to travel as much as possible. I want to visit any place I’ve never been, with the exception of North Korea, Antarctica and Montana.