The To-Do List

In 1635, Peter Paul Rubens depicted Neptune calming the tempest. In 2025, it’s the humble to-do list.

Sometimes I am suddenly overwhelmed by the sense of life thrumming through my veins. It’s thoughts, feelings, obligations, and responsibilities I cannot decipher or name. It’s everything I’ve done wrong, have yet to accomplish, and perhaps never will. Like a wave, it pounds and thrashes in my chest, threatening to flood my lungs. I start to panic and kick, flailing my arms as I try to stay afloat. Just as I think I will sink, I am buoyed by the to-do list. It’s a compass, charting one foot in front of the other: make your bed, brush your teeth, feed your cat. In this little life raft, I am carried safely to shore.