Becky's List of Lists
Those of us born female know too well the disadvantages: we earn 70 cents for every dollar earned by our male counterparts; we park under lights so, when we walk to the car after dark, we’ll be safe. The list is long. But there is one great advantage: we have purses! So we can always have with us a little notebook to hold our observations.
Where lists come from:
. 1. Notice something and write it down.
This is an observation.
. 2. Notice another something in the same category and write it down.
Now you have a list.
Kept over months and years, your lists become self-portraits. I recently made a list of my lists:
My lists:
+ and –
This is one of my most important lists, and I've kept an ongoing one in my small notebook for decades. My recent "likes" include short chapters and paying with correct change. Under the minus sign, I've just added people who leave shopping carts in the parking lot.
(I can’t believe) There are people who:
Don’t love chocolate
Have the same hairstyle for years/decades
Procrastinate
Drive a Hummer as civilians
Put toilet paper on roller so it comes out the bottom (this is why the world doesn’t
make sense)
Are always late
Don’t recycle
Don’t wear seat belts
Make things unnecessarily complicated
Don’t keep lists
_______________________________________________________________________________________
E-Z ways to die in Mexico
falling on spiked railing
having husband drop a tree on you
dropping a trowel on one’s head, blade down
fishing out wet toilet paper before it flushes and getting an infection because you've been
renovating and have wounds
attacked by a poisonous palm frond
Don’t love chocolate
Have the same hairstyle for years/decades
Procrastinate
Drive a Hummer as civilians
Put toilet paper on roller so it comes out the bottom (this is why the world doesn’t
make sense)
Are always late
Don’t recycle
Don’t wear seat belts
Make things unnecessarily complicated
Don’t keep lists
_______________________________________________________________________________________
E-Z ways to die in Mexico
falling on spiked railing
having husband drop a tree on you
dropping a trowel on one’s head, blade down
fishing out wet toilet paper before it flushes and getting an infection because you've been
renovating and have wounds
attacked by a poisonous palm frond
Eventually you can make a List of Lists:
Likes & Dislikes
Books Read
Ways to Die, good and bad
Being hit on the head by the gigantic final "S" that fell off the silo reading "JESUS SAVES," now "JESUS SAVE."
Running after a ping-pong ball in the studio and hitting a spike of Ray's sculpture (8/8/2014).
Famous People
Meeting Elvis
Ray Meets Elvis
Cormac Stories
Naked Man in the Movies
Stories
How I Hit a Student and Quit Teaching
Dog Bite
Outside Taxco
Rabies Shots
Barked at on Capitol Street
Dr. S Takes a Vacation
Mugged in Iquitos
El Otro Lado
The Bobs
Thieves Among Us
Kicking the Rock
Our New Friends, The Witches
Dora Gets Skunked
Pictures and Their Stories
Scene of the Murder 24 Hours Prior
Our Private Language
“In the dunes suffocate”
on accident
Saying DEEbris for debris
Seinfeld references
Ways to Smile/be happy
Murderers I’ve Known
Titles of art (Chronology of titles)
Perfect Jobs
Coloring “The Simpsons”
Being Bette Midler 20 years ago, or a back-up singer
Ellen D.
documentary filmmaker
Naming paint colors (Advil PM blue)
People Who…
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Likes and Dislikes
Back in the 1980s I read “A Life of One’s Own” by Joanna Fields and came across this simple but life-altering idea. Divide a sheet of paper into two columns. On the left, write a minus sign, and on the right side put a plus sign. As quickly as you can, list under these labels things you really, really hate (-) and things you really, really like/love: foods, colors, types of clothes, movies, television ads, things people do, ANYTHING. This is a private list – no one will see it except you - so you can be completely honest and you can make mistakes.
Here’s the benefit: You have programmed your brain to notice what you strongly like and dislike. Now when you are out in the world, living your day-to-day life, you will catch yourself responding to something in the environment, saying/thinking “I hate when that happens or I love that!” When you have an automatic, strong reaction, write it on your -/+ list. If you keep a running list for years or decades, as I’ve done, you may be surprised at the things you truly, authentically love and truly, authentically hate.
From my lists, kept for 20+ years:
Things I Like ---
Glancing at a digital clock when it reads 11:11.
When I see all 3 kitchen clocks and it’s 11:11.
Having private eye contact and “conversations” with babies in stores.
When I’m at a stoplight and the car in front of me has a turn signal indicator on,
and it’s in sync with the music on my radio.
Things I Dislike ---
Cell phones in movies, class, etc.
Double-Beep in Kinko’s doorway.
People saying something will take 15 minutes when they know it will take 30.
You can’t make this stuff up! Cheaper than psychoanalysis, your lists can help you design a life that gives you more pluses. Almost everything on my Likes List happens when I am alone, so making sure I have lots of solitary time guarantees more “feel good” moments. My negatives tend to be unnecessary interruptions, so I develop strategies to limit them.
As for art, here’s a big lesson: You don’t have to like something for it to be important and meaningful. Yes, your likes and dislikes are important, but they tell you about you and not about the art. Keep them separate from your looking/learning experience.
Another lesson:
Keeping lists helps program your brain to pay attention.
Creative people are more attentive.
If you want to be more creative, you need to pay attention.
So: make a list.
Likes & Dislikes
Books Read
Ways to Die, good and bad
Being hit on the head by the gigantic final "S" that fell off the silo reading "JESUS SAVES," now "JESUS SAVE."
Running after a ping-pong ball in the studio and hitting a spike of Ray's sculpture (8/8/2014).
Famous People
Meeting Elvis
Ray Meets Elvis
Cormac Stories
Naked Man in the Movies
Stories
How I Hit a Student and Quit Teaching
Dog Bite
Outside Taxco
Rabies Shots
Barked at on Capitol Street
Dr. S Takes a Vacation
Mugged in Iquitos
El Otro Lado
The Bobs
Thieves Among Us
Kicking the Rock
Our New Friends, The Witches
Dora Gets Skunked
Pictures and Their Stories
Scene of the Murder 24 Hours Prior
Our Private Language
“In the dunes suffocate”
on accident
Saying DEEbris for debris
Seinfeld references
Ways to Smile/be happy
Murderers I’ve Known
Titles of art (Chronology of titles)
Perfect Jobs
Coloring “The Simpsons”
Being Bette Midler 20 years ago, or a back-up singer
Ellen D.
documentary filmmaker
Naming paint colors (Advil PM blue)
People Who…
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Likes and Dislikes
Back in the 1980s I read “A Life of One’s Own” by Joanna Fields and came across this simple but life-altering idea. Divide a sheet of paper into two columns. On the left, write a minus sign, and on the right side put a plus sign. As quickly as you can, list under these labels things you really, really hate (-) and things you really, really like/love: foods, colors, types of clothes, movies, television ads, things people do, ANYTHING. This is a private list – no one will see it except you - so you can be completely honest and you can make mistakes.
Here’s the benefit: You have programmed your brain to notice what you strongly like and dislike. Now when you are out in the world, living your day-to-day life, you will catch yourself responding to something in the environment, saying/thinking “I hate when that happens or I love that!” When you have an automatic, strong reaction, write it on your -/+ list. If you keep a running list for years or decades, as I’ve done, you may be surprised at the things you truly, authentically love and truly, authentically hate.
From my lists, kept for 20+ years:
Things I Like ---
Glancing at a digital clock when it reads 11:11.
When I see all 3 kitchen clocks and it’s 11:11.
Having private eye contact and “conversations” with babies in stores.
When I’m at a stoplight and the car in front of me has a turn signal indicator on,
and it’s in sync with the music on my radio.
Things I Dislike ---
Cell phones in movies, class, etc.
Double-Beep in Kinko’s doorway.
People saying something will take 15 minutes when they know it will take 30.
You can’t make this stuff up! Cheaper than psychoanalysis, your lists can help you design a life that gives you more pluses. Almost everything on my Likes List happens when I am alone, so making sure I have lots of solitary time guarantees more “feel good” moments. My negatives tend to be unnecessary interruptions, so I develop strategies to limit them.
As for art, here’s a big lesson: You don’t have to like something for it to be important and meaningful. Yes, your likes and dislikes are important, but they tell you about you and not about the art. Keep them separate from your looking/learning experience.
Another lesson:
Keeping lists helps program your brain to pay attention.
Creative people are more attentive.
If you want to be more creative, you need to pay attention.
So: make a list.
ART LESSONS (the subject of Getting It and this website)
You (only) know what you know
How to Draw a Circle
You don’t have to like something to appreciate it.
Reproductions aren’t enough.
Sometimes size matters.
THE DATE is the most important part, since:
Art embodies, reflects, etc. the time/place
Art’s function changes along with its media, techniques, etc.
You (only) know what you know
How to Draw a Circle
You don’t have to like something to appreciate it.
Reproductions aren’t enough.
Sometimes size matters.
THE DATE is the most important part, since:
Art embodies, reflects, etc. the time/place
Art’s function changes along with its media, techniques, etc.