My love/hate relationship with paper

I imagine that the person who first figured out how to create paper was very excited at the possibilities of communicating in this new and exciting way. But could that person have ever imagined what our world is like now with paper EVERYTHING?

Paper towels, paper plates, toilet paper, printer paper, paper-wrapped food, paper bags, newspaper, paper napkins, paper cups, paper envelopes, paper inside paper envelopes, and of course books, magazines, newsletters, flyers, sales circulars, checks, BILLS, notebooks, folders, cards, photos, and don't even get me started on cardboard.

I am so overwhelmed by paper that if I were to strike a match at this moment, there would be plenty of paper fuel around me to keep the fire burning for a day or so. I was so excited the day I got my laptop because I realized that this could potentially reduce the amount of times per day I pick up a piece of paper and wonder what the heck to do with it. Do I recycle it, throw it away, shred it, burn it, file it, read it, or send it to someone else (in a paper envelope or cardboard box?)

But take me to a bookstore and I can't get enough. I tried to use my handy-dandy laptop to read a book and it didn't go so well. Maybe it was the fact that you can't read a book lying on your side in bed with it, or that it got too hot, or that I hated "clicking" through the pages, I don't know. I think it was the smell. Nothing smells better than a new book and nothing feels better in your hands than a new paperback with the spine all shiny and smooth. Also, nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing a book after I've read it, all bent and ugly. It feels like devouring a good meal and looking at the leftovers.

One thing I know is that this aversion to paper does not translate to other things that occupy too much space in my world - like yarn. I could have a million skeens and still buy more. If you knit or crochet, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "If yarn was like meth, I'd be toothless." Yep. That would be me.

I started to wonder if this aversion started because of what the paper represents - bills, statements, taxes, all that grown-up stuff we're forced to contend with. Paper, in its weird way, represents time and work. In a good way, the more you work, the more paper you generate. In a bad way, the more paper you generate, the more you work. At least that's how I see it.

(If only that were true with the yarn/knit/crochet scenario. With yarn, the less work you do, the more yarn you have to store.)

Does this post have a point? Nope. Just sitting here within touching distance of three bank statements, a Charter bill, 2 birthday cards, a paper cupcake wrapper (which was delicious, by the way) and a magazine order from my cousin's daughter in Georgia. How many magazines did I just order? THREE.

::sigh::

I surrender.