Going Old School

Some of the actions I'm taking and activities I'm engaging in to go Old School and experience a more natural, human existence in this modern, fast-paced, digital age.

  • My daily occupation: clacking away on the keyboard
    Going Old School,  Personal Diary

    My Daily Occupation

    In the early part of 2025, I began to share my personal take on: And now I want to promote my philosophy on those aspects locally in a very practical way. My Daily Occupation In recent months I’ve established a new daily occupation for myself in pursuit of my hopeful vision for the future. Since I believe a more natural existence in a more natural environment is needed for the betterment of society, I want to help reconnect people on a more human level and in a more natural way. At one time I wanted to completely unplug from the Internet. However, it’s clear to me that the Internet has…

  • old-timer at grocery checkout without a smart phone
    Going Old School

    Keep Old School Alive

    This morning, I came across a post in my Facebook feed that lit me up, motivating me to keep old school alive. It was a story about an old man at a grocery checkout trying to buy some groceries without a smart phone. (I realize the story was probably AI-generated –which of course, annoys me. But I believe the message was worthwhile.) The purchase total rang up higher than the man expected. He pulled out a store circular, which advertised the sales prices of said items. And the clerk pointed out the need to scan the coupon with his phone. But when the man pulled out his flip phone, it…

  • Going Old School

    Converting a Used Secretary into an Activity Center

    This past year, we acquired our third used secretary, all of which I love. I stored the first used secretary in my writer’s retreat in the mountains. The second one my husband used in place of a bookcase on his side of our bedroom. And the third one I set up on my side of our bedroom. Furniture Shuffle A month or so ago, we found a used matching bedroom dresser set, which we both really liked. This meant we had to move out some of our existing furniture. I moved my little girl dresser & matching desk out to our barn for temporary storage. And my husband chose to…

  • Little Free Library sponsored by Wood Between the Worlds VA
    Going Old School

    Using & Promoting Our Local Little Free Library

    There is potentially a local Little Free Library somewhere around your neck of the woods. In my case, I have one perched at the edge of our property — thanks to my daughter and her love for books. Since she launched this project, I’ve been paying more attention to these little beauties. Local Little Free Libraries offer Community-Building Potential I believe there is great potential for these book stations to bless their communities. And I can see local personal relationships developing from them. I recently took an inventory of our local Little Free Library‘s contents. And then I generated a double-sided document to distribute to neighbors and visitors. In doing…

  • Going Old School

    Building Our Own Private Media Library

    I grew up in the 80s, and my parents had an expansive collection of personally recorded movies in our family’s private media library. Naturally, when I moved out on my own, I began to build my own collection of store-bought movies. And over the years that collection has expanded to include a host of DVDs. Then when I got married and eventually had children, that collection grew even more. Media Library of DVDs, VHS tapes & Blu-Ray Discs I just put the finishing touches on our master list of DVDs, VHS tapes & Blu-Ray discs. The list totals over 500 titles. Most of these videos are movies, with a smattering…

  • Going Old School

    Sending Birthday Cards Through the Mail

    Sending birthday cards through the mail seems like such a simple task, but for nearly all my life, I never did it. I was never really taught to do so. But now I want to. Birthday Cards from Grandma & Grandpa Every year throughout my childhood, I received a birthday card through the mail from my paternal grandparents. Each one was simply signed by them with Love and included a bit of cash. To me, as a child, it seemed the purpose of the card was more to hold the cash than to send a personal birthday wish. That’s probably because they rarely wrote anything in the card beyond my…