In a world that has largely moved on to electronic communications I continue to cart piles of paper about with me. Journal, Bible, novel, diary and a notebook are my companions. Sometimes I carry a sketch book too, as I believe that creating is part of what it means to be made in the image of the Creator.
My notebook is my external memory device. It is where I note things to deal with later, be that things to purchase, people to contact, thoughts to contemplate, books to read or events to write about. When I worked on sailing ships as mate, it was an essential part of my functioning in a complex and responsible role. As I move between places and tasks in my current work, it is the item which helps to keep the right things happening at the right time and in the right place. It is of particular use when in the village as with limited access to the internet, and to the outside world in general, I cannot follow many things up immediately, but most stockpile tasks for later.
One page in my current notebook is labelled 'Aus' and is a long list of things to do while in the land of plenty. There are a few other pages of shopping lists for specific stores (hardware, stationary, grocery). There are numerous notes for future blog posts, noting events and reflections in a few dot points so that they can later grow into prose. There are notes for a meeting and from a meeting, as well as addresses to add to my database.
The page that makes me smile though, is the one that gives evidence of my need to wean myself off social media when I go to the village, as it is labelled 'Life as fb posts.' This page started as I realised I was thinking of events in brief and interesting ways that under normal circumstances I would post for the world to see. So, months later, here are some thoughts from my first weeks in the village when I was still writing such notes to myself.
My notebook is my external memory device. It is where I note things to deal with later, be that things to purchase, people to contact, thoughts to contemplate, books to read or events to write about. When I worked on sailing ships as mate, it was an essential part of my functioning in a complex and responsible role. As I move between places and tasks in my current work, it is the item which helps to keep the right things happening at the right time and in the right place. It is of particular use when in the village as with limited access to the internet, and to the outside world in general, I cannot follow many things up immediately, but most stockpile tasks for later.
One page in my current notebook is labelled 'Aus' and is a long list of things to do while in the land of plenty. There are a few other pages of shopping lists for specific stores (hardware, stationary, grocery). There are numerous notes for future blog posts, noting events and reflections in a few dot points so that they can later grow into prose. There are notes for a meeting and from a meeting, as well as addresses to add to my database.
The page that makes me smile though, is the one that gives evidence of my need to wean myself off social media when I go to the village, as it is labelled 'Life as fb posts.' This page started as I realised I was thinking of events in brief and interesting ways that under normal circumstances I would post for the world to see. So, months later, here are some thoughts from my first weeks in the village when I was still writing such notes to myself.
- Jan 25: We started drafting the Kope NT today!!!!!!!! It took six hours for 13 verses, but it is a good team, good to be started and good to be... thorough.
- Jan 26: Sitting on the verandah contemplating vowel length, tone, stress and their relationship to tense. Feeling like a real linguist.
- Jan 27: Because functioning in English, Kope and Greek was not confusing enough, we've added Hiri Motu to the mix.
- Jan 28: You know it's a hot day when the chickens all find a cool place to nap at 10am and they're still there at 3pm.
- Jan 29: My ankle callouses are back after spending hours sitting on the floor each day.
- Jan 30: Half an hour to download a few emails to my phone. It's no wonder I've resorted to writing fb posts in my notebook!
I think in social media posts too!
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