Datebook is a window to the past. Facebook is a window to the present.

Datebook is a window to the past. Facebook is a window to the present.

I heard an interesting story on NPR’s Weekend Edition this morning entitled The Simple Joys of an old fashioned datebook. The story is about “holding time in your hands” and being able to see the whole year  come flooding back through your handwriting, ticket stubs and other attachments.

I love(d) my datebooks.  I saved them year after year and then the digital age happened, I got all snarky and during a cleaning frenzy I tossed most of the datebooks.  Oh, how sad I am now.  When I was home for Christmas last week, I found one of my datebooks from college.  It was lots of fun thumbing through it looking at the different activities, but the best part was the address book with all my friends’ phone numbers.

Many of the people in the book are now well-known in their field/industry, but when their name appeared in this little book they were just known to their friends and family (some would call this normal*.)  Who knew there would be a critically acclaimed poet, an art director with multiple Emmy’s under his belt, a musician, a film director with an Emmy nomination or two, a few news anchors and investigative reporters, ad execs, heads of studios, accomplished television / movie editors,  media moguls, television news producers, ESPN sports producers and on-air talent, to name a few?  Emersonians knew.  And there are many other people not mentioned above who are responsible for things not in the public eye – running charitable foundations, developing movie scripts, raising families, teaching musical theater, top of the heap salespeople in real estate and media, etc.

I may start using a paper datebook again.  Milking the memories.

And thanks to the digital age –  most of us are tangentially aware of each other through Facebook and try to get together whenever we find ourselves in the same city.

Oscars used to be a whole month later

*No matter what my friends are doing now, none of them is normal.  They weren’t then and they aren’t now.