Recently I had the privilege of attending a very exclusive event featuring top quality speakers and a theme that stood to benefit all in attendance if they chose to apply the points of council that were given. I was literally looking forward to this day for months; I really didn’t even deserve to go honestly. As the program began, I eagerly jotted down all the key points; in effect making an outline for reference later because this wasn’t the kind of information you want to forget. But one thing really stood out to me: there were a number of other gentlemen in my age bracket, we’ll call the, my contemporaries, and few if any were as eagerly writing as I was. Now, this is not to say that they weren’t listening, or that they don’t have photographic memories, but it seemed to me that with information being given out for free like this, there would be little doubt that everyone would take notes.
If you plan on being a gentleman, not even an extraordinary one, but a gentleman, you have got to have a notebook. To take notes at a convention. To jot down thoughts as they come to you. To write love letters (they work), to express yourself. In the age of text and Facetime chat, writing may be the forgotten art, but it is still essential. To be able to look back and have volumes of your own original compositions and thoughts is invaluable. The personal writings of people like Leonardo DaVinci and Thomas Jefferson are priceless artifacts. People are fascinated with the personal, inner working of a man’s mind. You are a man. Maybe not a famous inventor or former President and slave owner, but a man nonetheless. Imagine the feeling on your son’s face to find your personal journal when you’re dead and gone; it would be priceless. It doesn’t matter what you write, only that you write. Really, I urge you: get a little emotional (not like “The Notebook”) and write something down in a notebook. It can only benefit you…
Fresh OUT,
Mr. H
Follow on twitter @thecropscream @freshdemeanor
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