AMY E MARTIN // Thesis

Typically the first thing I do in the morning is check my email. Today I woke up thinking about how I'm not checking my email and whether or not I'm missing something. My guess is that I am not missing much but I miss it. I miss the habit. I also don't quite know what to do with my morning internet time now. It feels less personal--even though I almost never get personally relevant or poignant email anymore.

When I first started using email in college, I used it to talk with strangers on a mailing list about a book series (nerd) and I used it to write to random pen pals. I don't even remember how I found these people (or how they found me), but each email was a letter. It wasn't a one-liner or a request or a plan for future action. Each email did not have a purpose outside of itself. It was a joy to read and write, send and receive.

I haven't felt that in a few years. I maintained the habit of sending at least one letter via email every couple of weeks or so--usually to just one penpal because few people I know still enjoy letter writing. I'm not entirely sure why I stopped sending those letters, I just know I did.

It might be a function of graduate school. I have also stopped singing in the car which I fully blame on grad school depriving me of time to enjoy music. But whatever the reason, email is now utilitarian, dry, uninspiring. So no, I don't think I'm missing anything by not checking my email, but I definitely feel I've lost something I used to have.

Labels: design explorations, random ideas