My Future Listography: All I Hope To Do In Lists

Listography -  Amazon

I spent the first few days of 2013 wandering around Gothenburg, sampling many of its cafes and generally soaking up a bit of much needed culture after spending Christmas in Northampton.  I was not alone in these enriching pursuits though; my cousin Bethany hopped onto a plane for her third visit to Sweden's second city.  On one of our perfect days out, we amused ourselves in Göteborg Museum of Art, beginning with a delicious lunch in their restaurant, following onto a lengthy peruse of the museum and culminating, of course, with a browse of the book shop.  Whilst browsing this delightful little store, I came across My Future Listography and was completely taken with it.  

This may come as a bit of a surprise - and shh, don't tell anybody - but I'm a bit of a closet sentimentalist.  Give me a packet of dusty photographs, a forgotten love letter or a dog-eared train ticket and you'll set me off spouting memories for days to come.  I'm also a sucker for resolutions, elaborate plans and motivational planning.  My Future Listography allows me to be proactive in the latter and, one day, I'll be able to indulge in the former.  Basically, it's the perfect.

The label on the back cover of this book describes it as "the ultimate fill-in journal for pondering the road ahead" and I think that sums it up nicely.  Between the wonderfully thick cover pages sit 160 pages of lists, illustrations and spaces to ponder.  The lists range from the potentially comical - "list ideas you want to see invented" - to the downright life changing - "list philosophies you wish your brain would permanently adopt".  There's a list for every mood and a category for every idea, along with three pages given to "list the things you hope to experience before you die" which to me just seals the deal on the usefulness of this book.

I think that this book is the perfect gift for anybody, including yourself.  It could be a space to jot down hilarious ideas and form lists laden with irony.  Equally, it would make the ideal companion for an afternoon of pondering and perfecting the deepest thoughts on life.  I would almost go as far as saying that I think it's an essential item for anybody on the cusp of "real life" - and even for those a little past it.  It's a place to write down all those things that you urgently commit to memory and then never remember again.  It demolishes all your excuses not to fill your life full of wonderful things and, to me at least, that will never be a bad thing.

As you may be able to tell, I'm pretty damn excited by my find.  I was so excited by it that I stood and stroked it, full of book based awe, for at least five minutes, trying to weigh up poverty vs. happiness.  I eventually decided that it wasn't an essential and could probably wait until loan day, and reluctantly put it back on the shelf.  We browsed for a little longer before calling it a day and trudging back out into the cold.  It was on this slow march that Beth, sneakily clutching a carrier bag, announced she'd bought me a birthday present.  I think you can guess what was in it.  

I was, of course, pretty thrilled by my shiny new gift (my birthday isn't until February but Beth kindly let me have it early).  Unfortunately, this does mean that I can now be held fully accountable for my own happiness forever more, with little opportunity to blame forgetfulness ever again.  Let's hope that I manage to do justice to the one hundred and sixty beautiful pages sitting beside me as I type this.  I solemnly swear...