Magazines

The other day I was at work and got an assignment from one of the editors I work for. I had to copy edit the next issue of Lasting Moments, the magazine put out by the Creative Memories scrapbooking company. It had something really cute on the cover—some adorable, fall-looking page featuring a baby dressed as a pumpkin.

“Aw, that’s cute,” I said as the editor walked away.

“Yeah, well, don’t get too attached. That’s our last issue,” she told me.

It was really sad news, actually. Granted, I’ve only been vaguely aware of this publication for the past few years and certainly never read it or looked through it unless Mom had a copy laying around the office (which she might have, now that I think about it). But it was still depressing.

Magazines are interesting things, I think. They’re very personal and hard to let go of. Putting aside that this is what I’ve chosen to do for the rest of my life, I think a lot of people have a hard time thinning the stash of magazines. I can do what I want with a newspaper and plop it right into the recycle bin after I fish out the funnies without giving it a second thought.

But magazines are much different. I know I’m not alone when I say I want to hold on to them. There’s something about the way they look and feel and smell. They’re shiny and colorful and nice. It seems sad and wasteful to just throw it out. Newspapers (which are great, so buy a subscription) look disposable. I think that’s part of the difference.

I read somewhere once (in a magazine, perhaps?) that the average subscriber holds on to their magazines for over a year… or something along those lines. Why? Probably because we’re all partially packrats. But I think we also get attached to them.

Will it sound weird if I say they’re kind of like friends? Maybe, but I don’t care. Mostly because it’s my blog and I’ll say what I want. They are kind of like friends. They’re what connect us to a larger community full of people with our same interests. That’s important, don’t you think? How often have we been interested in something but not had a single person to talk to about it? But that’s not the case with magazines. There are magazines EVERYWHERE about ANYTHING. It’s like the internet. You can always find SOMETHING.

A while ago I was kind of bummed about the whole magazine course of study. I began thinking about the economy and the contracting industry and realized that when times are tough, magazines are a lot of times one of the first things to go when it’s time to make cut-backs. I convinced myself it was some stupid, unnecessary indulgence that just encourages people to buy more things they don’t need.

I think every job has a service element to it. As in providing some sort of service to society as a whole. But I couldn’t find that angle for my job. One of my closest friends is a pharmacist and the service he provides to the community is just huge (and completely underappreciated, if I may say so). It’s really impressive—and that’s just on the level that I understand. I’m sure there’s even more I have no idea about. By the way, if you don’t think pharmacists provide anything useful for the community, spend three days at Drake and you’ll change your mind.

I digress. The point is that I wanted to feel like I was providing something to people, too. I'm not teaching children and shaping the future, I'm not saving lives, I'm not behind the pharmacy counter, I'm not picking up your garbage, I'm not finding more efficient fuel solutions. I'm not doing any of those things. I'm not even doing anything CLOSE to any of those things.

But maybe I'm helping create communities of like-minded individuals. Maybe, in some weird sort of way, I'm helping people find some sense of belonging. Or, at least, one day I will when I'm actually working. I still maintain that magazines are kind of like friends. They're monthly, paper friends who bring us news and ideas from people we've never met, but are connected to regardless.

I like to be connected to people. I need to be connected to people. Don't you?

So, Lasting Moments (ironically) is about to end. And the readership will dissolve and their little mail community with it. And, yeah, I think that's a pretty sad thing to think about.