Happy New Year!
The calendar has turned. 2022 has joined the thousands of other years of human existence in the history books, and we have a proverbial “new page” to write.
Checkuary sufferers aside, of course.
Many make resolutions for the new year, using the commemoration to kick off better habits or plans long-procrastinated. As I’ve aged (yes, I’m in the “aged” stage of things), I’ve tried to do less of that sort of procrastinating, in favor of “if it’s good enough to start on 1/1, it’s good enough to start today.”
That said, there is something bonus about New Year’s resolutions. It being part of my mission here to dispense occasional tuppence of suggestion (always within the NAP’s guiderails, of course), here’s one resolution I hope at least some of you will embrace.
Four little words:
Less Text, More Talk
We are social animals. We rely on more than the written word in our communications with each other, as so often demonstrated in the breach. Detecting humor, irony, sarcasm, empathy, aggression, disdain, or countless other nuances of speech is really difficult in text messages, social media comments, and the like. Even absent face-to-face interactions, tones of voice and manners of delivery convey so much. The COVID lockdowns (and the forever-masking, especially of children) have done tremendous harm to our social skills and societal comity, and it’s time we start healing that damage.
So, put down that phone, then pick it up. Call your friends, instead of texting them. I don’t care how fast you thumb-type, you cannot have as quality an exchange with someone via text as you can speaking or FaceTiming or Skyping or Zooming.
And when you can, make time for actual, face-to-face human interactions. Obviously, technology serves as a substitute for that when long distances are involved, and that’s a good thing, but getting into each other’s actual faces and spaces is vital to our health, sanity, and species.
It all starts with that old-fogey way of communicating. Your phone remains a phone, no matter how oldfangled that part of its function seems. Talk to your friends, and remember Peter’s Tenth Rule of Life:
After the third real-time text, call.
And, once again, a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year to you all!
Peter.
Spoke with a 26yr old friend about younger folks relying on texting rather than an actual phone call. She confirmed the inclination and said she often gets nervous when she has to call. That's a curious phenomenon. Two other friends, mid-30s, who always text, hardly ever call. I have a hard time dealing with texting as the sole means of communication. Haven't made a decision yet whether I will tell them my trepidation with their choice of texting...I don't know, maybe I must just make sure to Call them.
Talking on the phone gives me anxiety, always has, which is why I prefer texting. But, I make an exception. Just one. My 80+ year old grandma never caught on to the computer thing, or fancy texting, and I'm grateful for that. I don't call her as often as I like (or should), but when I do, it's always a treasure.
Happy new year Peter!