Article Saving Craze

Insight from Julie:

Newspapers and magazines have an abundance of useful tidbits about health, crafts, education, etc. You might come across an article about losing weight and think Oh, that's helpful, I'll cut it out. So you cut it out. Well, then what happens to it? Some people might send it to a friend (well, a friend might find an article about losing weight to be an insult, but still, it might get sent) others may pin it on the refridgerator or a bulletin board where they can see it everyday, and yet others may place it in a box, file, or on a pile with hundreds of other weight losing articles that are helpful, but no longer useful after the first read.

Just because something may be interesting, does not mean it is worth saving. When you read an article that strikes your fancy and pick up your sissors to cut it out, stop a moment and think:

1. Will I read this again? If the liklihood of you reading that article again is less than 90%, then don't even bother cutting it out.
2. Will this make someone else's day if I give it to them? If you had someone else in mind while reading this article, think before giving it to them. They might take offense or they may just throw it away. If the article in your hands isn't going to put a smile on their face or impact their lives in a large way, don't cut it out.
3. How often do I come across information similar to this? If the information in your hands is about technology, weight loss, cooking or other constantly changing or always available things, then don't cut it out. It'll be old news by the next day.

Don't clutter your office, bedroom, living room, entire house with article cut outs that no one really wants, not even you (if you really think about it). Newspapers and magazines keep backup files of all these articles. By keep copies yourself, you aren't perserving history for the world (unless 1984 hits and people rewrite history, but in that case there are plenty of other people who will not heed the advice here and will continue their cutting out of articles. Leave the perserving of history to them), you are just causing more clutter for someone (probably your grandchild) to clean up.

The internet is a huge source of information. Many of the articles you come across are also on those papers' and magazines' websites. If you have access to the internet, look them up and then send the link to your friend instead of the actual article.

Of course, sometimes, it's okay to cut out articles. Here are some reasons to cut out and article:

1. An article about someone you know personally such as wedding announcements (you don't have to save articles about Jessica Parkers wedding--unless you were her best friend in highschool)
2. An event that really impacted your life and you want to remember
3. A moving story that you want to paste in your scrapbook or write in your journal about