The List of Lists of Things I Love

Sanah Rizvi, ,

I love lists.

To-Do Lists, Grocery Lists, Shopping Lists, Gift Lists, Homework Lists, you name it, and if it’s a list, I’m probably going to love it. Every August, I make a list. And I stick to it. I don’t make New Year Resolutions, but I love other people’s lists. I love the way they structure them, make sense of them, actually stick to them, or altogether abandon them. There’s a certain edge to doing things without a list and there are certainly way too many things that I enjoy without a list, but given a chance, I’m quite likely to convert them into a list as well.

This year in 2018, I decided to witness a “True New York Christmas” and as I sat looking through the hundreds on thousands of lists that people have poured their hearts into, I came to a wonderful realization, even today, when I’m well into my 20’s, there are so many things that get me giddy and excited. Even now, after all my years of being alive and being through the seasons and holidays and work and studies, I still love the newness of old familiar things and the nervousness of novel new things.

My list of lists of thing I love is a gentle reminder to myself ten, fifteen years later, to see if too many things have changed. And it’s on the internet because hey, once it’s here, it’s always here, right? This list is a reminder of all good things in the past and the present and nudge of all good things to come in the future.

  1. Rain
  2. Books
  3. Hugs
  4. Christmas Lights
  5. Going home to my family
  6. Being Challenged
  7. Hot food on a cold day
  8. A good cry after an upsetting day
  9. Hot Chocolate on a winter night
  10. Clothes right out of a dryer
  11. The smell of the sun on clothes
  12. Dogs
  13. Shiny, sparkling things
  14. Singing
  15. Dancing
  16. Showering after a long journey
  17. Being with friends who understand silence
  18. Knowing that it’s okay to be the way I am and believing in the things I do
  19. Knowing that things and beliefs change
  20. Finding people who get me
  21. Botanical Gardens
  22. History of places and people
  23. My nanima’s food
  24. Fresh, hot soft cookies
  25. Walking down a street at dawn
  26. Festivals
  27. Poetry
  28. Containers
  29. Organized kitchens
  30. A sense of achievement
  31. Being adequately warm on a cold New York Morning
  32. Eating at a McDonald’s in foreign countries
  33. Eating at KFC in India
  34. A good laugh
  35. Beautifully wrapped gifts
  36. Dresses with pockets
  37. Rewatching movies
  38. Learning something new
  39. Cooking for my family
  40. Odd numbers below 10
  41. My belief in God
  42. The ability to write
  43. Laughing Babies
  44. Pink things