20 November 2010

Will we have to relearn how to write with a pen?

I wonder if by the turn of the century (or probably before that time), we'll all be needing to relearn the fast disappearing ability to write with a pen--on paper (the use of paper is vanishing as well! Most companies try to avoid a paper trail. It's now an email trail or electronic trail). Everything in our homes and schools and offices today are 99% manipulated by a button or a series of buttons or a set of keys on a keyboard or keypad! Yeah, pens and pencils can still be found in offices and schools. But mostly in schools, and in the much much lower grade levels. Even middle school kids now use netbooks, not to mention the new definition for notebook--this one isn't made of paper.


Think about it. Most of us work with computers. If it's not with our job, it's at home or in school or all three. We use our thumbs to punch in messages on our cellphones and we use a stylus to push virtual buttons or keys (again!) on the smooth surface of a smartphone screen or PC tablet. Please be reminded that using a stylus is not equal to writing. 


Of course there will probably be some remnant people who will hold on to their skill in wielding a pen or pencil or crayon or any writing instrument that is gripped to write and not punched. People who love the smell of paper and deem as music the faint sound of a nib brushing against a surface, producing lovely lovely script or hasty scribblings or harsh jottings.


But by that time, I'm guessing this remnant pen writers will be labelled eccentric and there might even be an underground movement. Then again, my imagination just might be running away with me again.


Still, I'm one of those who love the scent of fresh, smooth, blank sheets of a journal. And writing my thoughts on them with a scented pen. I love journaling. I even advocate it. I used to do it A LOT! But honestly, these days, the thought of nailing my fast forward thoughts on paper with a pen just seems slow. I worry that those bright ideas might take flight before I can capture them with pen on paper. So, unabashedly, I turn to my PC keyboard to reel in and preserve those thoughts forever on a virtual space where either everyone or no one can read them.


But upon contemplation, I wouldn't want to lose my ability to write using a ballpoint pen or pencil. So I guess I'll just have to practice it--on my journaling. It will help keep me still and meditative as I pace my thoughts with my hands. And who knows, I might be considered as one of the eccentrics while the rest of the world relearns the art of writing with a pen.

16 November 2010

Why I left the Facebook universe

My real friends wanted to know why? Yes, why was I leaving such a popular, very convenient channel for getting connected with friends? Why?


Wala lang. Truly. Honestly. It was just one of those things I knew I needed to do that probably seems strange to others for lack of a concrete reason. Okay...

  • Maybe I was getting tired of the whole thing. Or maybe bored would be a more appropriate adjective. Except with the handful of people I genuinely interact with.
  • Maybe it's because not all my 140+ FB "friends" were really trying to connect. Like I said above only a handful really interact.
  • Maybe the 140+ so-listed friends overwhelm me. Being an introvert at heart, I can honestly say I am happier with a few authentic friends than with a gazillion superficial ones. No offense meant to those who have reached the 5,000 friend limit allowed by Facebook. It's just that we're all different.
  • Maybe I resent the social network's haphazard use of the term "friend". I mean, other sites are more polite with the use of the term "contact". Then you're given the option to group those contacts accordingly, whether their friends, family, etc etc.
  • Maybe because even if it's supposed to connect people, all Facebook really does is keep an online directory of my acquaintances and so-called friends who don't really bother to connect or interact with me after I've confirmed them as a "friend" (I hate using quotations marks but I feel they're necessary in this case.) or have done my part in trying to connect with them.
  • Maybe it's the realization that checking out my FB feeds was bordering into an addiction-- not really necessary to check but I seem to be checking every chance I've got. Gotta cut clean before it's impossible to get out.

And the maybe list goes on...


One thing is for sure though. I did not delete my Facebook account primarily because of my hubby's thing about Mark Zuckerberg being an atheist and all. Although I am 100% sure my hubby has a point about a creator's or designer's spirit being present and flowing through the thing he has created or designed and it will affect those who interact with what he has created, I have to honestly say it is NOT my reason for deleting my account. 


I'm just a tad bugged though, that my hubby had to rally his cause before I could delete my account.


Hey, I'd really love for the Facebook founder to have a real relationship with my God, Jesus Christ but we all have to make choices. And God doesn't, and never will, force His way into a person's life. He'd rather that we come to Him on our own volition and with all our hearts. If Zuckerberg wants to risk his life without God in spite of his talent and brilliance being exactly a proof of God's--the Designer--existence, it's his choice.


If I had decided to stay on in Facebook, I'd counter the atheistic spirit with more God-inspired posts, you know. My "friends" can choose to think about them or ignore them. Their choice so they live with the consequences.


Ok. I've digressed again big time.


To reiterate, I left Facebook because I just wanted to. There's no English equivalent for the Pilipino idiom "Wala lang." The English counterpart doesn't quite capture the essence. Anyways, who knows, after a few months I might decide to return under a different name and be more honest and straightforward in adding to my friends list. Then again, maybe not.