To list? Or not?

It has become quite the trend to blog about lists (yep, this is me following that trend): 10 things to do (or never do); 10 signs of happiness (or unhappiness); 10 signs your spouse is cheating...

At least weekly--and I would surmise even more often than that--my social media threads suggest I read an article filled with numbered strategies on how to be better or happier or skinnier or more successful. Sometimes I read them; usually I do not.

Today my feed advertised an article, "10 Things Confident Women Never do." I didn't read it. I did, though, as a confident woman myself, ponder what might be on the list. I admit I even spent a moment composing what I believe should undoubtedly be the first item on the list: 1) a confident woman would never read a list of things confident women never do.

Looking for confirmation that you are confident is essentially a sign of insecurity. Reading a list of things confident women never do in order to strategize about how to be more confident doesn't seem a likely way to increase confidence. In fact, the list might make the non-confident woman feel less confident as she recognizes her behaviors on the list. Seems a vicious cycle. In a conspiracy theory mode of thinking: perhaps the list is in fact designed to keep readers who can only be described as insecure feeling ...  insecure (hence, keeping the demand for such an article alive and well).

As a confident woman/person (does it really matter if I am male or female?), I don't need reassurance that I conform to a list; I don't need evidence that I am actually secure. Not reading it, I believe, is a personal declaration of confidence.

But these kinds of lists bug me for other reasons as well: when advice becomes listable, reducible to a small number of must-dos (or don'ts), it generally becomes trite and useless. Case in point: David Letterman made for a career for himself, among other things, making top ten lists, lists that by their very mention invoke laughter. Lists that are nothing more than jokes. And why are they jokes? Because his writers find funny things to say? Of course. But on a deeper level, the very concept is laughable. Part of the humor is the formulaic claim that all things are reducible, listifiable, rateable, and static.

I do believe in some lists, though. Lists that are useful, lists that remind me what to buy, lists that prioritize my tasks for the day, or even lists of things I want to accomplish in my lifetime. In fact, I could be described as an "avid lister" in this regard, but I'm not really into digesting lists that are designed to make me feel good about myself, or bad about myself, or suspicious, or superior.

My current list!

Instead, I plan to focus my reading time on reading good literature, on books that compel me or articles that truly educate me. I may eventually compose an article listing my top ten reads...but probably not since I won't likely add that to my list of things I need to do.

Written August 9, 2015