I pulled out my typewriter tonight. I’m that kind of person. I relish owning a vintage typewriter. But not in the art object, hipster show off kind of way. I mean, I show it off, but only because I actually use the thing. I find it inspiring to create strands of words that way. It accesses a different part of my imagination that I can’t get to with a keyboard, or a tablet or with my handwriting. 

I’m a writer who loves the literary tradition. I’m a copywriter who loves long copy and manifestos. So yeah, I have a typewriter. If you talk to me about writing for a few seconds, it’s almost implied.

I have a typewriter and I love my iPad. I love technology, but I also see how it is destroying us. It’s too easy to abuse. The convenience lets us easily do a whole lot of nothing. That nothing takes time and effort, so we feel satisfied when we’re done. Even if the only thing we did was enter identical status updates across four different SNS services. It feels like an accomplishment, and sometimes they even give us things called badges. Congratulations for wasting your time! Here’s a virtual trophy!

We will not advance our culture if our motivations become pixelated badges. We must fight to still communicate with soul and substance. As humans. Those qualities don’t jive well with out so called new media channels. But our era will be a shallow, disposable dynasty if we don’t find ways to communicate with substance. We must continue to try and move each other. To stir souls and not be satisfied with accumulating ‘likes.’