When we lived in the D.C. Metro area, we subscribed to The Washington Post. It landed on our stoop with a thunk before dawn. Reading the paper was part of my morning ritual: make coffee, unfold the newspaper, open it up, and read while I sipped coffee. The paper rattled as I turned pages or folded it to make it more manageable to hold. I’d touch the sharp edge of a page to turn it, or lick my thumb to unstick sheets.
My fingers turned black from the ink, and on weekends I would sharpen a pencil, fold the crossword page so only the puzzle showed, and feel the recycled texture of newspaper-grade paper under the side of my hand as I filled in boxes with my wooden pencil. The pencil smelled of wood shavings when I pulled it from the metal blade of the sharpener.
I don’t read a newspaper anymore. I get my news from the radio and from podcasts: electronically.
I was thinking about this in the shower today (my thinking place), about how we listen to music electronically, news electronically, I work electronically on a computer screen. Much of my tactile interaction with the world is via fingers on a keyboard, wrists resting on metal, fingertips tapping plastic buttons. Before our record player, much of my audio interaction with the world required pulling up music on a screen, whether a laptop, desktop, or mobile device.
A majoity of my visual interaction with the world is looking at pixels on a screen — two dimensional, the screen creating its own flat glow rather than revealing texture via reflected light.
I wonder if this sensory experience is why we crave physical objects of yesteryear — manual typewriters, vinyl records, film cameras, bound books, newspaper. These physical things have weight — the heft of a Minolta, the tension of typewriter keys; they make sound: clack and crackle, click and crinkle; they have scent — metal, oil, typewriter ink, paper pulp; and they provide a tactile experience that connects with all the other senses: the satisfying sounds they make, the textures that light reflects, the scents they emit.
Physical objects are interactive in a sense-driven world. They connect all of these sensory experiences. When we touch a newspaper, we feel its texture, we smell its pulp, we hear it rattle, we see its movement, what section we’re in. We see how many pages we’ve read and how many pages we haven’t. We create piles: finished; not interested; still to read. And when we’re done, we have compost for the garden, or fuel to start winter’s fires.
All that being said, digital life is convenient. The delete key has changed writers’ lives; records can’t be played in the car, can’t be played for 4 hours of continuous background music; digital photography is quicker and more accessible than film; I can carry a whole library with me (and enlarge the font!) with my e-reader; we don’t waste trees to carry newsprint we’ll never read.
Still, The Daily Post’s Newspaper prompt got me thinking. I miss my morning Washington Post ritual. As a digital worker, I need to be mindful of engaging all of my senses, in a three dimensional world.
For the month of April, I will publish a 10-minute free write each day. Minimal editing. No story. Just thoughts spilling onto the page. Trying to get back into the writing habit.
Butterfly Mind 
My brother bought me a Kindle several years ago and, at first, I loved it. It was so easy to purchase and download books. However, I found that I could not read on the Kindle right before bed, which they say not to do if you want to fall asleep. I also found that staring at a computer screen or table for too long gives me headaches. So, I am back to buying books and I have to say I prefer that in every way. I like being able to take a book with me wherever I go and not have to worry about plugging it in. I like turning pages and being able to read before my head hits the pillow. It’s simply better.
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I had a friend who told me why he liked an analog wristwatch much more than a digital one. His reasoning was that an analog watch face could tell you so much more than a digital: how long until eleven o’clock, how long since ten o’clock, how much time has passed, how much time is left. I agree with him wholeheartedly, which is why I have worn an analog watch most of my life.
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I enjoyed your post, Andrea. Yes, the electronic, digital life has its advantages and I participate in it in my role as a writer. But you’re right there’s a need, a basic human need for the more sensory experiences too. I read paper books and newspapers (as well as sometimes using an e-reader). I also use pens, pencils and paper at times when writing especially at the first draft stage. I suppose it’s all about balance.
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I think there is undoubtably a loss of the sensory interaction of our bodies in the digital world….nice reflections💕
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Funny thing is the tradition of an actual, physical newspaper is still very much alive in pretty much all parts of Bangladesh. Of course, we the geek generation don’t care about physical papers that much. But the majority of our people still read the good old newspaper. And I don’t even have to go the rural parts of the country. Any tea stall or small hotels and shops would have at least one copy of the newspaper to spend leisurely time.
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