A Practical Walk

During a little trip last week, I saw two opposite things that stood out to me and got me thinking.

While standing in line at the post office, a lady ahead of me was mailing a package. “Sorry for my bad handwriting,” she said to the postal worker, “I haven’t written in forever!”

Artwork from the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art in Roswell, NM

Now, I don’t know this woman who appeared to be a little younger than me. Maybe she was just saying that and didn’t really mean it…but as I thought about it, its very possible she really meant it. I mean nowadays, you can have a calendar on your phone, notes and lists on your phone. A lot of things we sign up for or order we do by typing it online, not filling out a physical sheet of paper. You really can do so much without having to write it with pen and paper.

At the same time, I was helping over at my grandparent-in-laws (husband’s grandparents’) house. There were handwritten notes everywhere! We found stacks of letters from when a brother was stationed overseas and he wrote letters back home. Bundles of cards from over the decades. Notes all over with lists of things, I wondered which hand Mamo wrote them in, as she’s ambidextrous. So much writing by hand in that house!

I think of my own life. I write in my thankful journal almost daily. I scribble down a running grocery list on a notepad on the fridge. I write down to-do lists. I jot notes of things to remember. I often take notes during sermons to help me stay focused. While I do use an online calendar, I also have a planner notebook. I have a friend who asked to be pen pals, and we enjoy sending handwritten notes back and forth. The bottom line is, I write daily, and I like it! I much prefer pen and paper to a typed note on my little phone screen.

Seeing the stark difference between the lady at the post office and this 90 year old grandma, got me thinking, “Is writing being lost? Are we just replacing it all with typing?”

Journals from the last few years.

How about you? Do you prefer to write things down or type them?