Begin a List Journal

Lists. We make them, we use them, we throw them away, we forget them on the kitchen table… well, maybe that’s only me and my grocery list! There is just something about list-making that gets me going. I love making lists and crossing things off them; it gives me a needed sense of accomplishment in the crazy world we live in.

I got the idea for a list journal from my friend Valerie, who told me she kept a journal simply of lists. I was intrigued. She gave me a suede-covered journal, and I began my own list journal.  In it I began a few simple lists: books I want to read, movies I’d like to see, personal goals, writing goals... that sort of thing.

Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick have two books published called List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery and More List Your Self. I highly recommend them for occasional perusal, because sometimes there’s nothing like making a good list!

Here are a few ideas culled from their pages:

List your personal mottos or inspired words you want to live by.

List what you do to snap out of a bad mood.

List the people you’d like to smack around, yell at, or simply tell off.

List the greatest loves of your life.

List the menu for your Last Supper.

And finally,

List the stuff on your to-do list that is probably a waste of your time and resources. 

More List Yourself books we recommend:

List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery

More List Your Self: Listmaking as the Way to Personal Discovery

List Your Creative Self: Listmaking as the Way to Unleash Your Creativity

List Your Self For Kids: Listmaking as Fun Way to Get to Know Yourself

List Your Self for Pregnancy: Listmaking As the Way to Self-Discovery for the Mother-To-Be

 List Your Self for Parenting: Listmaking As the Way to Celebrate and Enrich Parenting

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Pattie Reitz is a writer and a teacher. She received her B.A. in English Education in 1991 and her MSEd in English in 1995. Pattie has experience teaching several age groups: middle school for one year, high school for eight and a half years, and college for five semesters.  She received training in 1997 as an Advanced Placement instructor in English and in 2002 as a teacher-consultant with the Greater Kansas City Writing Project.  

In addition to her work at Writers Remember as Assistant Editor and Journaling & Writing Prompts Guru, Pattie is a book reviewer for Armchair Reviews (one of Writer's Digest's 101 Best Web Sites for Writers, 2006), and blogs about books at Bookworm's Nook, a blog on Dot Com Women's network of blogs. She is also a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She considers journaling and personal narratives her passions in terms of writing genres, and she loves to encourage others to record their stories.  Pattie has had a few pieces published, both in print and online, and her current goal is to write more for publication in 2006. Online, Pattie is a moderator on the Women at Home message board and up until recently worked as a community leader on iVillage's former Journaling board.  

She is wife to a chaplain and mother of two girls, ages 9 and 6. Her blog is found at www.xanga.com/pattierwr.