There was a time when all our important communications were by telephone or mail. Most often mail was okay because it didn’t matter if we received news in five to ten days. We didn’t feel rushed. If it was urgent we picked up the phone. We used the phone for long distance calls sparingly because it was expensive.
Do you sometimes wish for simpler times? When you weren’t just a text away from someone who wants something of you - right now. Simpler times were evenings maybe watching a little TV or maybe not. No one had their noses in cell phones playing games or communicating with people who weren’t in the room. You talked to each other, you played board games or cards. You wrote letters to your sister, your mother, your aunt or your gramma. You paid mostly with cash, you knew the teller in your bank where you deposited your paycheck. You asked them about their kids or their vacation. Most notable of all, If you were lucky enough to live in an area with clean air without dirt and smog you might have hung your clothes outside to dry on a clothesline.
If you were part of these times or want to experience a calmer moment just do it. Take a minute, light a beeswax candle, get in the mood. Sit down and surprise someone with a letter. Do you think there isn’t any point in a handwritten letter? That’s not necessarily true. Last year our grandson Dawson found out he could draw a picture, put it in an envelope, address it to Grandpa, stick a stamp on it and drop it in the mailbox. A few days later Grandpa, several miles away, picked up the mail and put Dawson’s hand drawn picture on the fridge with magnets and showed him it had arrived on Facetime. Dawson thought it was magic! This is a little guy who has grown up with technology and mail was a novelty to him. It inspired me to start sending postcards to him when we were on vacation.
It wasn’t long ago that I said to my husband, let’s take the tent and ATV into the mountains where there is no cell service and no one can call us all week-end. It was heavenly. What do you like to do when you just want to relax and not be ‘on’ 24/7?
Photo by Jill Anderson
