I have a problem. I collect information…recipes, bits on a new law, a list of clever hacks, ideas for using mason jars, a list of science projects to do with my kids; reasons for eating cabbage every day, something I want to remember for later, party ideas, listings of seasonal events, articles on dyslexia, a bit about a new restaurant or a list of top restaurants with patios, the list goes on and on and on. I just keep tucking away information like a packrat. I say to myself that at some time in the future when I have a chance I will read it all.
That time never seems to come…but it will…I'm sure of it…I think.
Now, it's not 1998. I don't have stacks of paper cut out from magazines and newspapers or reams of paper containing information printed from my computer sitting in corners, occupying shelves or pinned to the wall…anymore.
No, it's all invisible to those unaccustomed to my habit.
It's all online {for the most part}. I simply click the star in the corner of my screen and store it away in my bookmarked pages.
It's a great way to be sure you can get back to pages you may want to visit again. So, what's the problem?
Well, I have hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of pages bookmarked. I know… I know…ridiculous…over the top….crazy. True, but I go back to this list over and over to grab a bit of info or look up something again or confirm something. I do use this information…eventually.
In fact, during my upcoming vacation, I plan to spend a day just reading through these bookmarked pages and perhaps I'll categorize some and get rid of others and hold on to a few…oh, alright, who am I kidding? I'll keep a good number of these bookmarks and not get through all of them in one day. But hey, it's a start; and I imagine I'll get some ideas and gather some inspiration for writing a few posts too.
I have always been an information hoarder. You should have seen my wedding idea stash. Do you remember Monica's wedding binder from Friends? Well, mine was bigger and more detailed than hers.
I used to keep printed information on all kinds of things. I love reference books and have such books on Shakespeare, Birds of North America, quotes from women, quotes from lawyers, history of the courts, historical courthouses, an old atlas, numerous dictionaries of various types, gardening books, cookbooks, books on London and Paris and Mount Vernon and all kinds of maps, including one of Boise, ID, oddly enough. {Well, you never know….I might need it again sometime…we have been to Boise…14 years ago…and did use this laminated map.}
Of course, one does not need such printed material anymore. It's all at one's fingertips…and can be bookmarked for later uses. And still, I hang on to my books and maps.
There is still something glorious about using an actual map and flipping back to an index to look up an actual page in an actual book. So, I keep these printed materials.
And I'll continue to bookmark my virtual pages, as if I'm folding the corner of the page in my book so it will be waiting for me to return and take up where I last left off.
I am a collector of information. Information empowers me. Information keeps marching forward. Information gives me ideas. Information restores me.
Do you crave information? Do you store it away in your head, on bookshelves, in a virtual file cabinet? What do you do with your information? Over and out…
Anna
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