Over dinner a few weeks ago, our daughter and son-in-law commiserated about having to replace his cell phone which had been accidentally dropped and had broken as a result. It wasn’t so much the cost of a replacement that bothered them as much as its size; it was too big to fit into a back pocket. Why, I questioned, and was told that ‘people just don’t talk anymore,’ and connect by text or social media instead.

That’s crazy, I thought. But I really shouldn’t be surprised. After all, writing letters or thank you notes is all but a lost art. Heck, so is cursive handwriting, for that matter. I remember when an entire class was dedicated to penmanship, or at least it was in Catholic grade schools. And as a writer and editor, I cannot even begin to adequately express my disgust and disappointment about how texting has desecrated the English language, what with its acronyms and initialisms (i.e. LOL and BTW, respectively) and total disregard for spelling and correct grammar. Our world has become “all thumbs,” which literally does not bode well for the future.

But my point is not to go off on a tirade, not at all! The difference between me now at 61 and the me I was when I was younger is that I’ve finally realized that, try as I might, I cannot change people and I cannot change the world. It is what it is. But I can still do something that will make a difference, somehow, someway.

So, I’ve decided to call one person every day in 2016 and have a good, old-fashioned telephone conversation. I’ll document who I call and the gist of the conversation. It sounds like a simple exercise and it is, but it won’t be easy, and therefore I’m viewing it as more of a challenge. Previously I’ve challenged my self to things like half-marathons (which isn’t easy for someone who doesn’t run) and daily writing challenges, so I know there will be hurdles and slumps. Challenges stretch me out of my comfort zone, and even though I always go through a period of regret for having taken it on, eventually I accomplish the task…usually, anyway…and feel all the better for it.

The holiday season a couple of years ago was somewhat of a downer, so to pry my self off of the pity pot, I forced my self every day to take a photo of something for which I was grateful and ‘pin’ it on a Pinterest board I named, “365 days of gratitude, one day at a time.” Some were grand…like a breath-taking sunset. Others were ordinary…like discovering a roll of toilet paper underneath the sink when it was needed the most. In retrospect, I’m really glad for that experience; I discovered that I became so much more aware of the world around me.

At the very least, a phone call might make someone’s day. Even bigger, I think this experience will render insight into others that is unable to be had electronically. Time will tell.