Paper Notes In A Digital World

This is just a quick post to acknowledge a couple of blogs that sustained me while I wasn’t blogging about all of these topics. They will continue to be an inspiration. The hunger I have for all things notebooks and pens were met by two blogs:

and

There are other blogs I read on a regular basis (though not many), but these two feed me when I have that pen and notebook hunger. They are consistently well-written and give solid, useful information. Thanks to Nifty and Dowdy!

I just finished reading the newly published journal of author Phyllis Theroux, “The Journal Keeper.” It’s a six-year look at her life when she was going through many changes in her sixties. Theroux is an intellectual and the book, while warm and very accessible, is also chock full of great literary quotes and her thoughts on some of the authors she is reading. Having kept a journal for many years, I have always been interested in reading published journals and thoroughly enjoyed this one. Some can be quite tedious, but “The Journal Keeper” is never dry and flows like a narrative with snippets that are sometimes only a paragraph long. It’s also a book that I can see being very inspirational for those considering keeping a journal.

Phyllis Theroux’s Journal Keeper website is worth looking through as well. She even offers some tips and thoughts on journaling as she reads an excerpt titled, “If You Want To Keep A Journal.”

I’m also a collector of journals and books on journaling — this one is a keeper.

“What a wonderful, wonderful book! I felt like I was on a little journey. It really made me think beyond the page. The Journal Keeper reads like a case study of a person’s life. You will read it more than once.”
– Amy Sedaris, author of the New York Times best-selling I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

“I loved this singularly honest and graceful book. The Journal Keeper reminds us that there is no such thing as an ordinary moment, and certainly no such thing as an ordinary life.”
– Elizabeth Gilbert, best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love

“Deep thoughts surrounded by stylish writing…”
– Kirkus

What a great way to help kick-off the new Paper Notes In A Digital World. This is an excellent Katie Couric interview with William Powers, author of the new book, “Hamlet’s Blackberry.” The book, which I have read and will be posting a full review very soon, is a wonderful look at the need for digital balance. I have read many books that are a bit similar, but I especially like this one because it is practical as it doesn’t take an all-or-nothing approach. This interview is almost 30 minutes and worth watching every minute. I can promise you that you will not be able to watch this and not want to delve further into the subject in, “Hamlet’s Blackberry.” Great read for anybody that likes the philosophy of Paper Notes In A Digital World.

On a side note, I have not thought highly of the idea floating around of Couric replacing Larry King, until I watched this. She might be the perfect replacement. With whispers that Couric might not be at CBS much longer, I take the CNN talk seriously.

It is with great excitement that I am relaunching Paper Notes In A Digital World. The best posts from the old blog have been saved and moved to the new site with the tag “ArchivedSite.” The only posts I didn’t move over were posts that were simple pointers to a link that no longer exists, posts that were based on no-longer-existing sites, and posts that were more of a strictly personal nature.

I plan to do much the same as before, with one exception. I will not allow the “digital world” to become such a burden that I feel I have to write every day, every whatever. In fact, I have never stopped writing, I just stopped writing on the blog. I have always kept my journal and I keep a notebook that’s a collection of many things — all on paper. When I began Paper Notes in 2005 the digital landscape was much different than it is today. I think that there are now many more avenues to explore and a larger community of like thinkers that will keep things more interesting. I plan to give the blog sixty days of attention and decide if it holds the interest that I think it might.

Thanks to those who have stayed in touch, encouraged me, and been a part of the cause of digital balance at other blogs, forums and places where sometimes our ideas have seemed odd and out-of-step with the growth of Social Media. Now, we use those same tools to help others find productivity, peace, simplicity, and growth without feeling that it must all be shared online at the expense of privacy, serenity, and “real-life” connectivity that’s right outside our front doors. Okay, you can take the (admittedly fun) gadgets outside these days as well, but you get the idea.

If you’re new to Paper Notes In A Digital World, feel free to browse around the archives and read the old posts to get a feeling for my interests and an idea of things to come.

I’m really looking forward to this! I hope you subscribe and join in with comments. (Click the bubble in the upper right to comment) Oh, I have to sheepishly tell you that I have a….uh….have a…. Tw….Twit….IHaveATwitterAccount (!) that I’ll use to tweet new post info, short tidbits, etc.

Welcome to the new Paper Notes!

Ideas. Books. Journals. Notebooks. Simplicity. Thought. Pens. Pencils. Writing. Paper Notes In A Digital World.

Mike Swickey