I Couldn’t Care Less

A few weeks ago, I wrote that “the list of things I don’t care about is pretty long.” On that list, of course, were the people who’d won the Nobel Peace Prize, which just so happened to be the topic of my blog post that day.

Then, earlier today, I actually tried to come up with a few more items to put on that list and I realized that it’s not nearly as long as I thought it would be. I suppose I could try to create such a list just because I said I would. I’d probably include:

• who wins on this season of Survivor;
• whether my students add me as a friend on Facebook;
• how many wins the Cornhusker men’s basketball team can put together this season.

But it took me a long time to come up with those things. And I suppose, having reflected on this for a little while, that it’s a good thing. After all, this is a list of things I don’t care about. If these things came to mind more easily, well, I’d have to put them on a list of things I actually care about. Instead, these are things that really don’t make an impact on my daily life and, perhaps, the difficulty I’ve had in trying to list them indicates that I’ve done a decent job at avoiding some of the nonsense that could occupy my time.

That’s not to say that I’m particularly good at ignoring annoyances or that I only focus on things that really matter. I’m sure I could list all the ridiculous things I do care about:

• whether or not my fantasy football team could get any worse;
• how many brownies I eat relative to my wife;
• that one of my picks — Kevin or Michael — wins Top Chef;
• which “fun” book I should read next;
• how much space is left on the DVR at any given time;
• if people are enjoying this blog;
• making lists.

In the end, my hope is that the things I’ve somehow managed to shut out of my consciousness will stay right where they are. Given how easy it was, just now, to list those silly things I do care about, it’s very clear that I don’t need anything else cluttering up my brain.