The Lost Arts

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the find of the century, or maybe it was of the decade. Either way it was a find for me. I visited my storage facility and found some very special letters and boxes of photos that I thought had either been lost in the mix of my many moves throughout college and graduate school or just that I forgot they even existed. I've been really busy with work, getting home late and now heading out to a professional conference for a few days so I haven't had a chance to really delve into the boxes of photos and handful of letters. But the task is inching its way up the priority list.

Letter writing is a lost art. I feel like it has gone the way of rotary phones and audio tapes. I remember having ONE pen pal growing up. Now I have 500 Facebook friends! The only time I buy stamps anymore is to send out our family Christmas cards. Otherwise, all correspondence is via text and/or email. As much as I love technology and all that it comes with, I do lament all that it takes away too...good grammar for one. Before we know it, the letters u and r will show up in Webster's dictionary as acceptable abbreviations for "you and are."

Like letter writing, certain forms of communication are also being lost. The move into a fully techno world has created a generation of people who lack basic communication skills. Instead of turning to their roommate 5 feet away and asking them nicely to lower their music, people are opting to post a less than complementary message on Facebook complaining about the loud music. As much as our new forms of communication have made the world smaller and our ability to communicate faster and more efficient, it has also made us forget how to have a simple, civil conversation.

    

    


I am a big advocate of balance. Work-Life balance. Tech-Non tech balance. There is a time and place for everything. There is space for a little bit of everything in our lives too. There's nothing wrong with working late a few nights here and there for our careers, but I do not care to become a workaholic. There is nothing wrong with doing a digital and a paper scrapbook layout in the same day. And there is certainly room for texting or social media AND old fashioned phone calls and the occasional letter to a special friend. Sometimes retro is the cool way to go. Grab a pen and start with the word "Dear." Maybe for National Letter Writing Week in January you'll give it a try. Who knew?!?