There is a quiet revolt happening and it does not look like much from the outside. It looks like someone buying a record instead of adding a song to a playlist. It looks like a disposable camera on a dinner table. It looks like a letter in a mailbox. People are reaching, almost instinctively, for things that have some weight to them, literally and otherwise. If you have been feeling that pull too, you are not imagining it, and you are not alone. These are six small ways to follow it.
1. Quit Online Shopping and Buy in Person
The deals are better anyway. There is something that online shopping has quietly convinced us of: that the internet always wins on price. But anyone who has haggled at a local shop, stumbled onto a sidewalk sale, or built a relationship with a small business owner knows that is not always true. You also skip the decision fatigue of infinite scrolling, the packaging guilt, and the two to seven business days of anticipation. You walk in, you find the thing, you leave with it. There is a satisfaction to that transaction that a confirmation email simply cannot replicate.
2. Bring Back the Alarm Clock
No longer will we fall victim to screen time first thing in the morning under the guise of “just using it for an alarm.” The alarm clock is a $15 to $30 investment that completely reclaims your morning. When your phone is not the first thing your hand reaches for, you get a few minutes that belong entirely to you before the world rushes in. No notifications, no news, no one else’s highlight reel before you have even brushed your teeth. A simple clock on your nightstand is one of the smallest changes you can make with one of the largest returns on your attention.
3. Put Down Pinterest, Pick Up a Magazine
Only sometimes. As a tried and true Pinterest lover, I still occasionally fall prey to the scroll to purchase pipeline for curation purposes. Magazines offer just as much inspiration while creating space between the stimulus and the purchase. If you love high fashion and editorial influence, I have been loving Violet Papers. She has a mission of keeping print alive and is building a completely unique space to do that. Especially as Substack readers, supporting print publishers, particularly boutique houses, is never a bad thing.
4. Carry Cash, Really
Making sure I always have it on hand has paid returns larger than my AMEX rewards. Cash is king, and especially if you are a vintage thrifter or antique shopper, sellers will often give you a significant discount if you just ask. My most recent win was a 20% discount on a lot of vintage postcards I found at a shop in upstate New York. Speaking of postcards...
5. Replace Even One Text Per Month with a Handwritten Letter, and Notice How Your Relationships Bloom
In the age of digital devices, the expectation is that you are always connected and reachable. I am not sure if it is the juxtaposition of that fact that makes a handwritten letter feel infinitely more intentional today. Someone sat down, thought specifically of you, and took time to communicate that in a way that lingers for days rather than the seconds that follow a text message.
If you would like to join us in this ritual, come join the Strawberry Afternoon Postcard Society. Each month I will send you a vintage postcard sourced from somewhere in the world, passed down through decades, plus a stamp so all you have to do is write a message, choose a receiver, and send it on. Use code STRAWBERRY2 for $2 off your first postcard 🍓
6. Buy a Beautiful Notebook and Actually Write in It
Not a planner. Not a productivity system. Just a notebook. There is something that happens when your thoughts travel through your hand before they reach anywhere else. No notifications, no algorithm deciding what you see next, just you and a blank page. It does not have to be journaling in the therapeutic sense. It can be a grocery list, a sentence you overheard, or a paragraph you will never reread. The act itself is the point.
The analog resurgence is not about rejecting the modern world. It is about refusing to let it be the only world. Every record that gets played, every letter that gets sent, every purchase made in person is a small vote for a life that has some texture to it. You do not have to go all in. Start with one thing on this list and see what it opens up. The slower pace has a way of surprising you.
Until the next Strawberry Afternoon,
Tori