In the Face of It All, What Have You Done?

On the Power of Keeping a “Done List”

Lake Merritt’s Oakland4Good Protest

Hello good people. It’s the beginning of the last week of the first month of 2026, and my head spins with the sheer muchness of it all. So far we’ve had the kidnapping of the Venezuelan President, the ICE murders of unarmed people in Minneapolis, celebrations of MLK’s birthday amidst the saber-rattling towards Greenland, and the one year anniversary of the second inauguration of Donald Trump, by my count, at the very least.

Why not stop here and take a good, deep breath?

San Francisco Bay on a cloudless day

It’s easy to feel hopelessly browbeaten in times like these. That’s at the root of what we’re navigating right now, and it’s why I’m trying what Oliver Burkeman calls keeping a “Done List.” The idea is, in response to the endless morass of Things That Need Doing, it’s a pretty sweet strategy to focus instead on noticing/celebrating/reflecting upon the things that you have actually done.

Here’s a look at what mine has to say for my year so far: 

• Spent some time reflecting on my 2025 with good friends, and felt into what I’m interested in prioritizing in 2026

• Threw a bangin’ 70th birthday party for one of my beloveds

• Had some much needed winter rest and watched lots of movies with my cinephile Boo

• Enjoyed some out-of-town friends with their cute babies/kids + deep conversation

• Went to the dentist 

• Applied for a contract position, which I didn’t get (but I figure it still counts!)

• Coached some truly awesome clients

• Attended a 4 day, in-person, peer counseling workshop and deepened my connections with several native women of the global majority, as well as a few lovely white men and I got to cry deeply about what is happening in Minnesota and beyond

• Marched Lake Merritt at Indivisible’s Oakland4Good Vigil with a bunch of kids in strollers and grannies with poignant signs

• Read many articles on what my country is doing to world relations

• Helped my niece shop for things she needed for her new apartment, and listened to her feelings as she prepares to give birth (any day now!)

• Called my representatives and demanded the defunding of ICE

• Read a novel and some good poetry

• Organized my colleagues into a small cohort to think about our businesses together

• Tended my own well-being many times via doing things like going to the laundromat, making home-cooked meals, and taking hikes and long swims at my local public pool

• Wrote this blog post(!)

I feel better already. 😂

Not that that’s the point. But there *is* something really useful about keeping our perspectives both clear and humble. What I’m noticing is that, not only is a Done List an act of generosity toward yourself that’s immediately within reach, it can help illuminate a reality that can be hard to see within the constant pressure to do and be more. Namely, that you are doing quite a bit, actually. 

The classic organizer question is always: how do we grow our movements so we can affect real change? But Indigenous elders and Buddhist monks alike are often encouraging us to more deeply appreciate what we already have. There’s an important tension in our lives right now regarding what it means to meet this moment well: We have to somehow figure out how to simultaneously do more, and do less. 

Winter gifts from friends on my altar

The multiple levels of collapse we teeter on bring with them the opportunity to redirect our energies, if we’ll take it. I think this is about the inherent enoughness of existence. Something that can never be taken away. Navajo elder, Pat McCabe, floored me once, with this prayer of gratitude that she had the temerity to offer: “Creator, thank you for making me so beautiful.” Such a true thing! And somehow, one that so very many of us would struggle to utter… 

What might it do to our lives (and so, of course, to our movements) if we were to slow down, appreciate ourselves more fully as we are, stop striving to “maximize” everything we touch, and be satiated more simply? If we were to focus on the truth of our connection to the rest of creation, and move humbly, together, towards what matters most? 

This is the kind of work that doesn’t look so great on “productivity” charts, but it just might heal what ails us. It’s the kind of work that requires being well-resourced with things like rest, good food, and healthy relationships with people and the rest of Creation. It honors the brevity and preciousness of our lives, while (IMHO) making us happier, and better looking to everyone we are trying to court to join our efforts toward a more beautiful world. This is what good leadership requires of us. Doing our very best to have juicy lives, out loud, in public, and without shame or limitation on what we can imagine for ourselves. 

Now that’s an organizing strategy I can get behind.