Amy in the Garden

1. Decide what definition of “move” fits this post, and use it to frame the discussion.
2. Share my choice: “Definition 4: to take action: act.” I cannot do either, take action or act, without a list. I know this about myself. It is the only way I can stop the 3 a.m. gasps of panic: GAAH! I don’t want to forget to do THIS, or THAT, or WHATEVER. Make a list! Go back to sleep!
a. Admit that while I can always make a list, I can almost never go back to sleep.
3. Look up the definition of “list” and discard all the verbs and adjectives, and references to sailing and tipping over. We are moving, in every sense of the word, and believe me, I’m listing enough already.
4. Share the definition of “list” that suits today: “a simple series of words or numerals; an official roster; catalog; checklist.”
5. Learn a fun fact about this particular definition: “First Known Use: 1602”
6. Take comfort in the realization that people have been making lists, and stopping those wee hour panic exhalations by making a list, just like me!, for over 400 years.
a. Think about a great plot for a horror movie that has to do with lists.
b. A woman, that makes lists because she can’t sleep, wakes up and sees thousands of women from history, gathered around her bed, staring at her.
c. The women are holding lists appropriate to their period of history. From yellow legal pads and ballpoints, to quills and parchment, to rocks and lumps of charcoal. (We are all tormented.)
d. Rather than running away screaming, the heroine (me) asks to see the lists.
e. The thousands share the pressures and stresses of their lives that have compelled them to make a list, and the heroine learns that not much changes in a woman’s life. “Call ConEd to cancel the account” could so easily be exchanged for “Remind Husband to prime musket for expected arrival of invading army,” or “Scrape the bear hide for howling baby’s new shoes.” Really, it’s all the same.
7. Explain: I make a list every day, beyond those that many people do. No pedestrian grocery list for me, or Honey-Do list for Husband. My lists are all encompassing:
a. Plan the year ahead!
b. Decide the goal of the week, and break it down into daily tasks.
c. Put the list by the coffee pot! (for maximum visibility, even though the recipients are often so annoyed by having their day start with a list from me, that they push it aside, or “accidentally” drip coffee over the more onerous items)
8. Take comfort in the fact that I’m joining the company of Famous List Makers of History. Benjamin Franklin and Woody Guthrie both made lists.
9. Share the best of both lists. Start with Benjamin Franklin.
10. Benjamin Franklin wrote a list of 13 virtues, when he was a mere slip of a boy – 20 years old. The idea of a 20-year-old male thinking about virtues long enough to make a list is already historically significant, methinks. Of the 13, the two that speak most to me in this tumultuous time of moving, are these:
a. Industry: Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
b. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
11. Continue with Woody Guthrie. Mr. Guthrie made a list of 33 New Year’s Resolutions in 1942. To be fair, I will share only 2 of these, even though the full list is delightful. Again, choosing the 2 most pertinent, that also happen to be the first and the last items on his list:
a. Work more and better.
b. Wake up and fight.
12. Accept that lists will help organize the move, and might even help me sleep better, but won’t make the load lighter, the burden easier, or the event resolve more quickly. The move will happen on its own terms. It’s a lot like Life.
13. Get more sleep.

WORDS FROM OTHERS
1move
verb \ˈmüv\
intransitive verb
1
a (1) : to go or pass to another place or in a certain direction with a continuous motion (2) : to proceed toward a certain state or condition (3) : to become transferred during play (4) : to keep pace
b : to start away from some point or place : depart
c : to change one’s residence or location
2
: to carry on one’s life or activities in a specified environment
3
: to change position or posture : stir
4
: to take action : act
5
a : to begin operating or functioning or working in a usual way
b : to show marked activity
c : to move a piece (as in chess or checkers) during one’s turn
6
: to make a formal request, application, or appeal
7
: to change hands by being sold or rented
8
of the bowels : evacuate
8

Origin of MOVE
Middle English, from Anglo-French mover, moveir, from Latin movēre; probably akin to Sanskrit mīvati he moves, pushes
First Known Use: 13th century

Related to MOVE
Synonyms
budge, dislocate, displace, disturb, relocate, remove, reposition, shift, transfer, transpose
Antonyms
freeze, still

 Merriam-Webster