Brenda (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
burendasan4) wrote2006-04-01 05:04 pm
burendasan4) wrote2006-04-01 05:04 pm
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Personal Goals (or Habits I Want to Move Toward), Part II
For Part II, I am writing about two “goals” that both have to do with spending less time on the Internet, which has both its good and bad points.
Reading more books
Working at my local library has brought me back to my long-time love: READING BOOKS. At first I resisted, but now whenever I see a book that I might want to read on the shelves, I snatch it up whenever I have a free moment. And I keep seeing more and more books that I want to read. When I was in elementary school, I would have up to five books that I was reading at one time. I’m almost back to doing that again ;-) Like I said, I love reading books. The only thing is, I find it hard to find time to do so because I spend so much time on the Internet. I often feel that reading would be a much better use of my time and much more enriching. But being on the internet allows me to “spend time”, or talk to my friends, most of whom live far away. Moreover, the Internet is great for the most up-to-date knowledge and news. It’s also a great way to express myself, the way I’m doing now with this LJ entry, to many people, or whoever cares to “listen.” ;-) In other words, by being on the Internet, I feel a “connection” to the rest of the world…which I suppose is the reason people are drawn to the Internet. In the meanwhile, I suppose I must make a compromise between time spent reading books and time spent on the Internet. Regardless, I will always have a love for books and I hope they will NEVER become obsolete. In fact, I think they should not EVER become obsolete.
Writing more letters and fewer emails
Ideally, I would like to communicate more often via letter. Yes, one of those old-fangled handwritten one. Do any of you remember how excited you would get when you got a letter from a far-away friend or a pen pal? A letter is something more personal, more tangible than an email. By sending something handwritten, it was as if you were actually sending a bit of yourself to the other person. As a recipient, it was like receiving not just news, but a part of the person sending the letter.
Another reason I would like to see the letter come back is this: In the past, people corresponded heavily via letters, leaving us with a record of how people lived and thought in the past. Nowadays, nearly ALL our correspondence occurs electronically and my problem with that is that the durability of this medium is rather tenuous. Once a certain type of technology becomes obsolete, the information stored on it runs the danger of being lost forever. So we aren’t leaving a tangible record of our history for people of the future to look upon. But that’s a subject I could go on forever about….
Notice, however, that I said that this is an ideal. Realistically speaking, emails are a MUCH quicker and convenient way to correspond, especially if they are about important matters. This makes sending emails as opposed to letters very tempting. Besides, if I insisted that my friends keep in touch with me via letters, none of us would be able to find the time to sit down and write one. So for many people, if you want to continue to keep in touch with someone on a regular basis, you pretty much have to use email or a chat program. Even though it is impersonal and less tangible, it simply has become the easiest way to communicate.
I'm so glad I was able to get this entry in because I probably won't post again until after my trip to Illinois. Catch ya on the flip side!
Reading more books
Working at my local library has brought me back to my long-time love: READING BOOKS. At first I resisted, but now whenever I see a book that I might want to read on the shelves, I snatch it up whenever I have a free moment. And I keep seeing more and more books that I want to read. When I was in elementary school, I would have up to five books that I was reading at one time. I’m almost back to doing that again ;-) Like I said, I love reading books. The only thing is, I find it hard to find time to do so because I spend so much time on the Internet. I often feel that reading would be a much better use of my time and much more enriching. But being on the internet allows me to “spend time”, or talk to my friends, most of whom live far away. Moreover, the Internet is great for the most up-to-date knowledge and news. It’s also a great way to express myself, the way I’m doing now with this LJ entry, to many people, or whoever cares to “listen.” ;-) In other words, by being on the Internet, I feel a “connection” to the rest of the world…which I suppose is the reason people are drawn to the Internet. In the meanwhile, I suppose I must make a compromise between time spent reading books and time spent on the Internet. Regardless, I will always have a love for books and I hope they will NEVER become obsolete. In fact, I think they should not EVER become obsolete.
Writing more letters and fewer emails
Ideally, I would like to communicate more often via letter. Yes, one of those old-fangled handwritten one. Do any of you remember how excited you would get when you got a letter from a far-away friend or a pen pal? A letter is something more personal, more tangible than an email. By sending something handwritten, it was as if you were actually sending a bit of yourself to the other person. As a recipient, it was like receiving not just news, but a part of the person sending the letter.
Another reason I would like to see the letter come back is this: In the past, people corresponded heavily via letters, leaving us with a record of how people lived and thought in the past. Nowadays, nearly ALL our correspondence occurs electronically and my problem with that is that the durability of this medium is rather tenuous. Once a certain type of technology becomes obsolete, the information stored on it runs the danger of being lost forever. So we aren’t leaving a tangible record of our history for people of the future to look upon. But that’s a subject I could go on forever about….
Notice, however, that I said that this is an ideal. Realistically speaking, emails are a MUCH quicker and convenient way to correspond, especially if they are about important matters. This makes sending emails as opposed to letters very tempting. Besides, if I insisted that my friends keep in touch with me via letters, none of us would be able to find the time to sit down and write one. So for many people, if you want to continue to keep in touch with someone on a regular basis, you pretty much have to use email or a chat program. Even though it is impersonal and less tangible, it simply has become the easiest way to communicate.
I'm so glad I was able to get this entry in because I probably won't post again until after my trip to Illinois. Catch ya on the flip side!