Everything is digital these days – simple correspondence or planners to our deepest thoughts and worries. Everything can be edited, deleted, retracted, or shared. The convenience, the speed to which our thoughts can go out is immense. You are always too slow, too late. Same as any detox or a solution for slowing down, we move to analog solutions. While digital is easy and convenient, we still choose a physical written word. We choose notebooks. We choose pen and paper to journal, plan, write and memorize. It is often a weapon of choice against the rapid flow and hundred distractions.

They might not be more convenient and definitely not easier to browse around. Nonetheless, they are more helpful. Because you can’t write as quickly as you would with the machine, it forces your mind to slow down and really take in the words and thoughts that are being put on paper. It gives you time to take them, process them, and maybe even create new connections. And yes, it’s much more prominent which means that any idea you put on paper will remain much longer. Notebooks store all your secrets and there is no way to eradicate them. On the one hand, these are much more mindful and, on the other hand, much more honest words. And that’s the magic bit.

Notebooks are like printed photographs (yep, I love them too). It’s a memory of the thought and a time when it mattered. It gives you a glimpse of who you are, how you evolved, and in a way, where you are going. When you take a notebook, you flip through them, and you are immediately transported to the time when… you jumped out of joy, you hated your loved one, you loved your life, you hated your life. All of it this there. You discovered some problems because you wrote down your thoughts. You solved some problems because you wrote down your thoughts. Just thinking, rushing, and moving from one item never solved anything but taking your time, thinking it through, and letting it sink in has unbelievable power.

And just imagine what kind of power it has on other people. Do you remember when (the last time) you got a paper later or a note from the loved one? Do you remember how exciting or precious it was? How many emails have you saved and memorized and how many paper letters have you saved? Yes, digital words are efficient, they just go in swoosh without even thinking, without realizing their impact on you or on other people. But analog ones, physical words bring you a feeling. Only writing on paper you can really get lost in thought because your mind doesn’t have to race. Only by reading paper notes do you truly spend time and actually read every word instead of just skimming through. It helps to share or take in that love, joy, surprise, sadness, and pain like nothing else.

In my story, an accidental paper note became a love note that is always carried close to my lover’s heart. It became the beginning of the story because it was so unique and unexpected. Do you remember that text on [insert any dating app name]? And what about a love letter that you can touch and feel? And that’s the impact of a slower life, paper letters, and my precious notebooks. They are stories of me that will always be there, and only for me. How do you protect your stories?