What is your canvas of choice when you want to capture an idea?
Do you capture it on a screen or do you prefer to take pen to paper?
Prior to a meeting, I engaged in small talk with two of my colleagues about their preference for jotting down their thoughts.
Pen and paper won with a 2-to-1 vote. The pro-writing colleague said writing things down helps him remember. (Write!)
The anti-writing colleague said he can just do a search to help him remember his typed thoughts. (Right…)
There are plenty of valid arguments on both sides as to which one is better.
Whatever your preference, take the time to capture your ideas, thoughts and aspirations as often as possible. Your writing is a snapshot in time about what you’re doing, who you are and who you are becoming. When you reflect on your writing, you begin to recall certain elements about that space in time. Your word selection, your subject of choice, even your sentence structure can give clues and reminders about you. Writing can be so private yet so telling!
I enjoy looking at my kids’ writing journals during the school year. Kids can be so imaginative and so open with their writing. Their creativity has no limits! With the writing prompts given by the teachers, I get a glimpse of what resonates with my kids through their writing. I know how much they enjoyed our last family trip. I also know how much they missed me during my last business trip…:(
The beauty and the beast of writing – the gift and the curse, if you will – is that it reveals your thoughts. Meaning, if written in truth, the process can be both freeing and uplifting all the while exposing your vulnerability. Trust the process. What you gain in freedom will outweigh what you lose in privacy.
Yes, I am a proud proponent of pen and paper. Writing also helps me remember. I can jot down my thoughts almost immediately. I don’t have to wait for a device to be charged. AND….writing gives me one less reason to have my eyes on a screen.
With that said, no one can exist in this age without the ability to get their written thoughts on a screen to share with the masses.
So as I draft this post and seize this moment in time, I am definitely TEAM SCREEN! (temporarily)
Question: When was the last time you took pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) and wrote down an idea?
INK WELL SPOKEN
“Endowing Your Worth with the Power of Words”
