The List

I'm lying on the sofa watching a movie and the main character has based some of her most important decisions on a list, she had made for her self some years ago. It so happened that like life would have it, most things occured outside of the precepts of her carefully drafted list. Of course in the movies things always fall exactly into place so - she found true love in an imperfect man and after some corny music and an on que thunder storm, he forgave her ;and she landed the coveted account and was restored to the pinnacle of perfect employee.
The List .... many of us have drafted a list or several lists for our lives. What we want to achieve and when we want to achieve them and, like life would sometimes have it we become busy and so caught up that our list gets lost or goes unnoticed.
I've often wondered how many of us walk around with our lists in the forefront of our minds, revisiting and restructuring it as needed . Versus how many live without a list, allowing the winds of life to direct their paths instead. More importantly why have we created these lists to begin with?

If I were to make a calculated guess , it would be that with all that's currently going on in the world - the extra time so many have found themselves with recently , a number of us have dusted off those lists and are currently reviewing same.
Some may look at the list in appreciation ; where they were then, what was important versus now and what has become important and have been accomplished.
But again if i were to make another calculated guess many of those reviews could be filled with disappointment maybe even anger.
It is possible that some of us have used these "lists" to somehow imprison ourselves, crippling our ability to make choices... healthy choices, because we want them to be so perfect and exact to the lists we've created for ourselves.
But doesn't the list make our dreams , our goals more believable, real even? Keeps us grounded and focused on fulfilling our varied purposes in life ...
Straying away from these rigid lists isnt always such a bad thing as it allows for us to throw caution to the wind and live maybe not on the edge but in a way that allows us to push our boundaries, see what our metal is made of.
All in all I've concluded, that if a list works for you then by all means go ahead , writing your dreams makes them your goals but dont be too rigid . It's also amazingly freeing to just toss the list out the window and allow life to happen, just use wisdom and be smart about it. 

Covid 19

 The concept of staying home and socially distancing from everyone would not have been one that even an introvert in this day and age would fathom to be the new norm.
I was given a couple of hours to pack for six to eight weeks and return to my country of birth, with all hopes and anticipation that during that period things would some how sort themselves out and the world would develop some new way of living.
Unknown to me and the rest of humanity what would unfold in matter of days was incomprehensible and frightening, striking fear into the hearts and minds of many.
Who would have thought that we could be engaged in the war of our life time, combatting an invisible enemy which has the potential to wipe an entire race from the face of the earth using nothing but or social nature.
Six hundred plus dead within twenty four hours one country - Italy, I saw my hopes of an Italian vacation / honeymoon almost in ruins. A country so rich in history and culture brought to its knees by a hug and a kiss. For a minute i thought to myself.... what if italy was to really loose its fight against the lady of the hour ? All that history would almost cease to exist, with so many older people dying who will pass down true italian traditions and culture to it's people? Can this vital role of their existence be left in the hands of the modern day italian man or woman who prefers a microwaveable dinner to slow cooking a meal for eight hours and pairing it the best bottle of wine taken from the cellar , with it's own rich history of coming into existence?
If anything at all the emergence of this virus has allowed us to see a different side of ourselves, some have reconnected with their spiritual side some for the duration of the pandemic others for good - this is too much of a wake up call, others have become human again thinking about someone else's needs for the first time in ages and others have become more greedy and power hungry.
As the world turns and the crazy settles mother nature exhales; because her skylines are clearer, mountain peaks have come out of hiding , the air is cleaner and animals are left alone to roam as they should. I cant tell the future but I see us coming out of this stronger , more tolerant and patient with each other and more focused on the things that are important.. I would sure hope that these are the fruits preserved from this season .