My L.O.F.T.

Someone very special to me, who I don’t really even get to speak to very often anymore, changed my life.

 

She was able to motivate me to do something that, on the onset, sounds very simple, trivial and common – something that really doesn’t sound all that special – but it is quite so, in fact.

 

I had always heard of people having, or keeping lists of their favorite things.

 

I guess if you had asked me I would have said that I expected that most people kept such a list. I guess even if you had asked me about my own (until November of 2007) I probably would have nonchalantly lied and said “Sure, I have got one … I am not sure where it is, but it’s somewhere.”

 

No doubt, when thinking of a List Of Favorite Things (LOFT) the song by Julie Andrews comes to mind, “… rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens …” I mean everyone has a list of their favorite things right?

 

 

 

No, I doubt it.

 

And, I didn’t have – at least not a real one, a tangible one.

 

Now, thanks to this special person whose smile is number 27, skirting walk is number 49, and the fact that she inspired me to actually keep a real list of my favorite things is number 18 on my list – I really have a list.

 

I look at and add things to my list of favorite things (LOFT) on a regular basis – that’s what you do with things, like lists, that you actually have – you use them and reference them often – not just become mindful of it for a passing moment.

 

It takes work to keep a LOFT.

 

You have to constantly be aware of the things around you, your experiences, and your day.

 

Generic items and general terms are generally not accepted.

 

For example, you really would not want to put “chocolate chip cookies” or even “homemade chocolate chip cookies” on your list – that’s not specific, special enough. You might put “making homemade chocolate chip cookies with my mom on Sunday afternoons.” That specific description allows you to highlight the most miniscule piece of joy from the experience that is most custom-made for you.

 

 

 

 

Most everyone likes chocolate chips cookies – many people even really, really like chocolate chip cookies. But you, and only you, really remember making them with your mom on Sunday afternoons.

 

Keeping a LOFT forces you to focus on the joys in real time and, also, as a post-script. Not only, do you think to yourself while you are experiencing one of your favorite things “Wow, I need to add this to my LOFT”, but you also are forced to think of it again when you actually go to write it down.

 

I came up with the acronym LOFT because a loft is something that is elevated above other normal surroundings. (It also – just so happens to be that the person who inspired me to create and keep my LOFT slept in a loft for a time – wow – the irony.)

 

But that is what your LOFT should be; it should be a place where you can go that elevates you above your other everyday, normal, and even – sometimes – drab or depressing surroundings.

 

 

 

 

I have over three-hundred-and-fifty things in my LOFT (some you can read about here in my blog). Each item in my LOFT is specific, true, and dear to my heart – even and especially number 18 – the fact that I have been so inspired to keep a LOFT.

 

Thank-you number 18 – you get a star, I think of you often, every time – in fact – that I go to my LOFT.

I also like your hugs, number 91.

 

I can only hope that I have so lifted you, as you have lifted me.

 

May your LOFT continue to grow.