Following up on my last post, Thoughts on 2012, I planned to write a post on each of my four focus areas for the year. Under a banner of seeking wisdom and understanding, I plan to write, create music, read more consistently, and accomplish professional development. In order, this post will be part 1 of 4 of my “Wisdom Quest.”

Today I received some goodies in the mail. My father-in-law and his wife were kind enough to give me Amazon gift cards for my birthday (12/01) and Christmas. Using them I purchased, among other things, a Moleskine planner, one from their exclusive Peanuts line.

The idea of reverting to a paper planner is something my friends might think is a bit odd for me. I am, after all, an I.T. guy! But I find this theme of writing continues to crop up in my life. As I considered my New Year’s goals, I initially wrote that I would have less involvement with technology. Then I realized that it wasn’t technology I needed to pull back from… it was the manner in which I consumed data.

Over dinner the other night, I talked with my friend, Jon, about all of the data streams in our lives. We can get data in so many easy ways. It’s in the newspaper, on the web, our computers, our phones, billboards, screens at the mall, our email, our TV’s, our tablets, and more. And within each device there are thousands of separate data streams available to us!

The problem isn’t in the availability of data, it’s in how we receive and process that information. And it got me to thinking about parenting, too. I don’t want to just impart data to my son. He can get that anywhere! Anyone (or anything) can provide data to him, but my role is to bestow understanding.

How does writing come into this big picture for me? Writing in my journal or planner, or even short pieces like this, cause me to slow down and think. If I take some time to slow down, to turn off all the data sources for a period of time, it gives me moments of reflection, a necessary break from rushing streams of information.

Taking a calendar and looking through it reminds me how long a month is, a week, a day, and I see how they work together to form the structure of my life. It takes my eyes away from the screen, and it becomes something in my hands to touch, to remember, to remind me of the natural flow of things. I’m very much looking forward to using my new planner to help me walk in wisdom through my life this year. Too often my life has been more about taking in data, rather that dealing with it wisely. Thankfully, God provides me wisdom when I ask:

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)

Do you think writing and setting goals for your writing is a good way to slow down and add wisdom to your life?