Tag: writing

Quill, ink, and paper

Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why?

Okay. I’m not old enough to have used a quill regularly. But there’s something about the idea of slowing down in writing that is missing today.

It’s so easy to fire off e-mails, one after the other, without really thinking about the consequences. In times gone by, if you were angry with someone, you might have to sharpen your quill, dip your ink, and scratch away at the paper before sending your letter to arrive “sometime” in the future. It allowed time to think, “Is this really such an issue?”

There’s also something calming and comforting about the feel of a fountain pen scratching paper fibres as it glides across the page. It’s soothing. And it’s something that’s sadly missing today. Screens with styli come close. But there’s nothing to beat a dip pen, liquid ink, and paper.

The Imposters

Triumph and Disaster are imposters. They may engender strong emotions at the time, but those emotion fade and are replaced by the next big issue facing us in life.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same

(If – Rudyard Kipling)

Porthcawl Beach

Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If, is a study in contrasts, considering many of the opposites that we encounter in daily life. He describes being able to do what others cannot; of handling situations with equanimity; of dealing with life in a balanced way.

Yet his comment, above, on the opposites, Triumph and Disaster, seems to add another dimension. Most versions of the poem capitalise the words as proper nouns, almost as if they are people, or even gods. And, in truth, many people see triumph as an idol to be worshipped at all costs.

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Do you like me?

We’re not a failure just because no one “Likes and Subscribes.” The failure is in not even trying.

How do you build loyal subscribers?

Maybe the question is more, WHY do you build loyal subscribers?

We all want to be liked. No one wants to be disliked. But there’s a difference between the desire to be liked, and the need to be liked.

For many people, today, being liked is not something optional; it’s become a matter of survival. And it all starts with parenting.

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