The Beauty Of Little Inconveniences
Start writing a post
Entertainment

The Beauty Of Little Inconveniences

Lugging around a million books instead of having a Kindle is actually kind of cool.

13
The Beauty Of Little Inconveniences
Pexels

Wooden pencils are inconvenient. If you break off the tip, you don't have that pencil until you dig around for a sharpener. The erasers are usually lower quality than mechanical pencils, and using them vigorously for even one or two words causes half of it to slough off, and soon you've got a dull-tipped pencil, grooves in the side where just a slight pressure of a fingernail broke through, the eraser worn down to nothing. You either have to carry a sharpener around with you or have a million pencils - and if you choose the latter, you will at some point have to take the time to sharpen all of them.

DVDs and CDs are inconvenient. Instead of just having the media on a computer, whether that be on an iTunes account, Amazon Prime, or just on the hard drive, you've got these cases and these discs that, if they break, you're out a movie or thirteen songs. VHS tapes and cassette tapes are even more inconvenient - you have to carry them around, they come unraveled if you leave them alone with a three-year-old for more than twenty seconds, and God help you find something to play them on.

Physical books are inconvenient. Instead of a Kindle (or, let's be real here, a Kindle app) that's got your entire library in one, lightweight tablet, you've got to choose one or two or however many you can fit in your bags or your arms to carry with you, they're heavy, and finding a comfortable way to read a mass-market paperback is nigh-impossible. They get ripped up and you spill stuff on them, and then they're not quite so pretty anymore.

But I like that. I like having to take the time to do things like sharpening pencils or deciding between forty CDs rather than be able to click and instantly have everything. I love having to sharpen pencils once a week, and you can get pencil-topper erasers. I love looking over my CD collection, and my DVD collection, and the the few cassettes and VHS tapes I own. I love books. I love physical books more than anything - while I do watch movies I don't own a physical copy of and listen to music off of Amazon prime if I'm already sitting at the computer, I just can't read a book on a screen. Lugging them around, having stacks of unread books pressed against the wall - and used books, with their bent spines and coffee spills and the occasional annotation, is my favorite thing.

With physical, inconvenient, and sometimes old-fashioned things, there's more thought behind it. It's more deliberate to pick out a CD before heading off to class or popping a DVD into the DVD player than it is to hit shuffle on an iPod or pick out a movie on Netflix, only to get bored every twenty seconds and go searching off for a new one. Everything that's deliberate, everything that you take a couple more seconds to think about, is everything that I kind of tend to live for.

Maybe it's just because I'm a material person. I like stuff, especially old stuff. Thrift stores are my wallet's biggest enemy - I've got a box of 'millennium bubbles' on my dresser right now because it's just so cool. I love collecting things, weird things, and so having fifty pencils with erasers in various stages of existence and a wall of unread books and a couple of CD racks are just kind of natural for me. It's tangible and it takes more time, but that's what I like. There's no point in rushing around, rushing to find this, rushing to click on this, and convenience sometimes goes too far. If everything's right there, there's... there's something a little less genuine about it. It's just less fun and real.

So if I have to take fifteen minutes out of every weekend to make sure that I'll have sharpened pencils come Monday morning, then that's pretty much fine with me.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

938244
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

115134
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lots of people sat on the cinema wearing 3D glasses
Pinterest

Ever wonder what your friend meant when they started babbling about you taking their stapler? Or how whenever you ask your friend for a favor they respond with "As You Wish?" Are you looking for new and creative ways to insult your friends?

Well, look no further. Here is a list of 70 of the most quotable movies of all time. Here you will find answers to your questions along with a multitude of other things such as; new insults for your friends, interesting characters, fantastic story lines, and of course quotes to log into your mind for future use.

Keep Reading...Show less
New Year Resolutions

It's 2024! You drank champagne, you wore funny glasses, and you watched the ball drop as you sang the night away with your best friends and family. What comes next you may ask? Sadly you will have to return to the real world full of work and school and paying bills. "Ah! But I have my New Year's Resolutions!"- you may say. But most of them are 100% complete cliches that you won't hold on to. Here is a list of those things you hear all around the world.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

The Ultimate Birthday: Unveiling the Perfect Day to Celebrate!

Let's be real, the day your birthday falls on could really make or break it.

94252
​different color birthday candles on a cake
Blacksburg Children's Museum

You heard it here first: birthdays in college are some of the best days of your four years. For one day annually, you get to forget about your identity as a stressed, broke, and overworked student, and take the time to celebrate. You can throw your responsibilities for a day, use your one skip in that class you hate, receive kind cards and gifts from loved ones and just enjoy yourself.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments