Correspondence

Having grown older in an age of internet, social networking and instant messaging, I wonder what my children will think in my passing one day. There won't be any special letters, keepsake journals, or nuggets of wisdom I had imparted somewhere on a page here or there. My journaling I publish will be just that, published, likely long since read by then (I hope).

 Writing for oneself can be a liberating journey, or challenging, or scary. Sometimes I write something and publish on my blog and check my hit count relentlessly, hoping that what I thought of as "good" will be seen by many others. Though, that is hardly the reason I write. I began writing my thoughts in blog form for me. I wanted to write to myself.

 As many of you know the day to day doldrums can make it very challenging to chart your own path, growth, or changes. My blog with all it's stories, musings and insights allows me to see where I have come from. But a blog is purely one sided, it is my internal monologue, with little response. While I converse with a few people regularly, I don't correspond.

 Having just finished "John Adams" the HBO special I couldn't help but think how useful writing to an old friend to muse about thoughts would be. As John Adams and Thomas Jefferson old friends and sometimes political rivals did in their later years. This is useful in the sense that you have someone to bounce ideas off of, and they with you, but you both gain the benefit of an additional perspective on your thoughts in a way that allows far more thought than conversation. Writing allows one to polish one's thoughts into exactly what you wish to say, as opposed to what you can think to say in the moment.

The gold mine I think comes in later readings from other people. As a child may read a letter from a friend, you can recount what you were doing, and insights into a parent can become insights further about oneself and sides of parents you never saw. While I hope as my children grow into adults I can share what little wisdom I have with them, and impart my parenting stories with them, I couldn't possibly remember them all. While my internal musings can produce the same effect it is still lacking in it's totality of conversation.

 I think that social media, social networking, and text messaging has allowed one to connect to many on a much easier level, it has also managed to limit our ability to correspond. I am famous for calling people numerous times, not wanting to leave a message and wait for a call, I'd rather just keep calling. My desire for an immediate connection can be rather humerous, but the truely humerous part is that in doing so I further my point, it seems in many ways that people today want contact now, as opposed to when contact is ready. It is a good thing I am not a wine maker.