Sitting here in our regular 'cafe', otherwise popularly known amongst Malaysians as 'the mamak restaurant', sipping my Milo, I am declaring war with my entire English vocabulary as I struggle typing my thoughts and feelings onto this post. As much as I love writing, the idea of blogging has never quite appealed to me before. What should I write about anyway that will actually qualify the piece as a 'blog post'? Should I be pouring out my feelings and describe every single small detail about my personal life before it can actually be called a blog? I know nothing much about a blog and yet, here I am - having promised the entire world that I will be blogging regularly about my probably-very-boring writing challenge with the not-so-intriguing-title called "The Book Writing Roller Coaster: Pen Over Time". This is probably the reason why I am attempting to actually BLOG a few posts first to familiarise myself with its process before I actually announce my attempt to the entire world.

Anyhow, as I was saying, I am sitting at The Mengkuangs, staring at my laptop screen as well as trying to drown the background noise of pots and pans clanging, ignore the non-stop-sound blaring from the oversized speakers that are placed above my head and not be distracted by the voices of the people chatting and laughing away around me. The number 1 task on their to-do-lists at the moment is definitely to gobble down the best 'Roti Canai' in the world while I continue to figure out what I am trying to write today.

Lists can be a very interesting topic to write about. Just as everyone has lists, I have my own too. Why do human beings create lists anyway? Are lists really intended to keep us more organised and remind us of important tasks that we 'may' forget, or are lists just an excuse for us to continue our lazy habits of not wanting to keep up the effort remembering these 'important' tasks using the excuse of possessing a fallible memory. The question is if they are really 'that important' in the first place, is there really a need to jot them down before we can actually remember them? Why do human beings always need to invent oh-so-many ingenious ways to secure happiness, security, love etc. Why can't we just embrace life spontaneously? Why must feelings of happiness, security and love be conditional? Even looking for companionship today has been reduced to checking-off qualities on a..... (Yes! You got that right!)..... LIST.

What are human beings today without lists? If the advantages of making lists are properly channeled, perhaps it really is an asset. But then again, the art of list-writing in recent years have also been reduced to just mere words on paper, or for the more technologically-advanced beings out there - an Android device, the iPhone or the iPad. Most people write lists just for the heck of it (probably to make them appear more systematic, even if they are not). 

List-writing has become a casual routine. People have become so habituated with writing lists that most people never take their lists too seriously. So tell me, what is the point again of writing lists? Most people probably just write lists so that they can feed their 'famished' bins - be it physical or digital.

With the New Year just around the corner, I'm sure many of us are gearing up to plan our upcoming resolutions which most of us will never even give a second glance after the 1st of January. Oh well, it is still a beautiful thought to think that people may just finally decide to stick to their resolutions for the next 365 days, isn't it? Topping my 2014 resolution would of course be this project: "The Book Writing Roller Coaster: Pen Over Time".

As much as it seems as though I am against the idea of drawing a to-do-list after reading my thoughts about it in the above, which I probably should have kept to myself in the first place, I have to tell you that I am an ardent devotee of anything that will keep one systematic and organised. I simply cannot live in a listless world. Don't get me wrong though. Yes, I do believe that we are supposed to live our lives free from worry and pressure, and embrace spontaneity as much as we can, but I am proud to say that I am a person who creates lists and actually sticks to them. That is why I am a strong advocate of creating to-do-lists, which can help you feel more empowered in determining the direction of your life. At least it helps you gauge your progress in certain areas of your life. This was clearly written in my article - Embracing The Power of The To-Do List.

Anyhow, having mumbled a whole lot about lists, why we should have them and why we shouldn't, it'll probably do the world a lot good if I sign off now.

Love and light,

Genevieve