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I am stuck on paper.
Research tells me that there are four types of paper: cardboard, sheet, book, and newspaper. Check Check. Check. And check. Yes, I love them all. And this is no fling. I said “I do” to paper a long time ago. No amount of sleek, sexy technology can seduce me or make me untrue to my ply. We have a lot of history together. Perhaps a childhood filled with dollar bills tucked inside birthday cards, coloring books, paper dolls, comic strips, crepe paper party streamers, Nancy Drew mysteries, and letters to Santa solidified my love of paper. It was paper tissues that saved me from carrying a damp, snotty handkerchief around in my pocket in grade school. And I don’t even want to think about life before 1930, before splinter-free toilet paper on a roll became widely available to households. Bottoms up to that! Save for facial tissues and toilet paper, most paper has an extended life if not a resurrection in my household. Even those paper towels that come with the perforated strips; I cut those parts in half and quadruple the life of a full paper towel. I repurpose every bit of paper that I can, cutting it into smaller pieces for lists and notes to myself, for book marks, and to keep the leg of the end table from rocking ever so slightly. Any bit that I can’t reuse goes to recycling. And I can find my way out of a paper bag, thank you very much! Give me a bag with a sturdy handle, and I call that a suitcase. A good sturdy paper bag can be cut, re-shaped and re-used for many purposes from Halloween costumes to Easter baskets to mailers. And who can’t find a million uses for a cardboard box! I have one tall one that once housed an air cleaner. I’ve been using that box for years as an extra laundry hamper in the spare bedroom closet. Sure comes in handy for sorting on laundry day. I find that writing on paper by hand is good for my mind. I remember things better when I put them in writing. Or at least I remember that I wrote something down. What was that? Oh, yes! And I love the power of putting pencil or pen to paper, feeling my hand move up and down and across, folding paper and fitting it into tight envelopes. I admire beautiful stationary and funny or inspirational cards with colorful envelopes and interesting stamps. And give me a note delivered by the old-fashioned postal service! You’ve got mail is another way to say you are loved. Most useful of all is a good handwritten list with scribbles and slashes. I’m getting things done! Just the act of creating the list generates energy and momentum. Few things are more satisfying than crossing off items on a to-do list which is why I usually start the list with something I’ve already done. Check! I am already a winner by the time the ink dries. I refer to my handwritten list in the grocery store even as the younger folks consult their phones, and I ask myself, what kind of preparation is that? Can these be serious shoppers or are they watching Tik Tok videos? Have they properly agonized over their lists, searched their cupboards for items in need of restocking? Planned their menus? Have they really asked each family member: Need anything? In a busy household what else is a refrigerator door for than a running grocery list? And speaking of the grocery store, I do get a little emotional in the meat department looking at all of that Styrofoam and plastic wrap, remembering the old days in my grandparents’ grocery store when meat was wrapped in butcher paper and tied with string. I admit that I am prejudiced. I am suspicious of anyone with a clean desktop who never heard of a paperclip. They are often the ones who try to enlighten me with “save the trees,” but data centers are a worry too. We can plant more trees, but I don’t think we can undo the damage being done to our earth by data centers or the damage being done to our minds and relationships by technology. When I die, lay me down into the earth wrapped in recycled newspaper and mail a note to my children.
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Looking for a chance to stick it to the oligarchs? Saturday, April 25th is the 13th Annual Independent Bookstore Day. And April 13th was the birthday of Thomas Jefferson that champion of American independence and a reader who said: “I cannot live in a world without books.” I’m with him! I know that I cannot live in a world without books or a country without independence. And I know I do not want to live in a world without the spirit of community that small shops and local businesses create. Find your local independent bookstores and make a visit. And while you’re at it, maybe stop in a locally owned coffee shop or café. Greet the shop owners and thank them for the contribution they make to our lives and to our world. Chat with some of the other patrons and booklovers. Many of us are feeling frustrated if not helpless with the state of the country and the world. Here is a chance to joyfully engage, to take back some of the things that belongs to all of us—independence and community. Don’t let the wealthy oligarchs make us strangers to each other. Times are tough. If you can’t afford to buy a book or some of the other charming merchandise on display, show up anyway and look around. Your effort and your presence say that independence and community matter. Books and the arts matter. Words matter. Consumers have power if we take it. See you at the revolution. See you at the bookstore! |
AuthorLilli-ann Buffin Archives
August 2026
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