Paperwork: Sometimes the best part of your day is talking about it

Mr. DJC was having a crazy day.

He shared a friendly wave with someone who turned out to be a mailbox.

Later he used his phone light to search in the dark ... for his phone.

Then, after walking around like a little boy wearing his mother’s high heels, he realized his new insoles were in upside down.

Was he having a bad day? You could say that, or you could just laugh it off. Which is what he did. And he let us laugh with him with a clever, short narrative about his day.

I chuckled at his story but then had a thought. That sometimes the best part of your day is when you write about it. Turn it into a story you tell yourself ... and others, if you want.

It was a fleeting thought, but then I bumped into myself … in something I wrote years ago on Jan. 30, 1978, a Monday.

I must have been home from work, reflecting on the day, my job as a reporter, a journalist, a writer. At my Royal typewriter I put thoughts on paper … that I saved, of course.

I’m sure it felt good to write it. I was bumping the benchmark age of 30. Thinking about my job, my purpose.

And it feels good to read it now and see that guy who 46 years ago wrote these words:

“Perhaps writing is a need I have. Like a hunger, I feel compelled on a regular basis to sit before a typewriter and beat out my thoughts. When the letters fall in place and thoughts are flowing smooth, there’s a rhythm and a hum inside to go with it. No doubt … it feels good.

“Perhaps writing is a way to feel good. There’s a special feeling that comes with inching into a thought. Spelling it out not just for a reader, an audience, but for myself. When it fits together then I, too, feel whole. There’s some pride in coming to a conclusion that makes sense.

“Perhaps writing is a waste of time. But, of course, it’s my time, and when I do not do it enough I feel empty, guilty and ashamed. I owe it to myself to put thoughts down. What I am thinking is important. Maybe not now or for a long time from now. But I believe in the importance of the single being. That’s me, too.

“Perhaps writing is all I am. Just words that carry no real individual image. Words that can be worn like a mask by anyone wanting to share the joys of a lottery winner or the tears of a widow. Perhaps I’m just a mirror, reflecting back all the world’s attempts to get into my shell and see what I’m really like. Better to point at others than myself.

“Perhaps by writing I can change. Not just myself, but the world I walk through and the people I touch. And I do touch people. I reach inside them and pull out what I know will be there. They do not object. They want to be seen inside out. They want to be known and loved and touched.

“Perhaps by writing I can change and let them touch back.

“Perhaps.”

I’ve come a long way since that day. But, yes, sometimes the best part of your day – your life? – is when you write about it.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.