To Buy or Not to Buy

“We throw ourselves into work, consumed by finishing this or that project, convinced that each professional task is truly important. And yet if what these oldsters say is true, it’s likely that at some point we’re going to leave it all behind and not look back.

What lesson should the rest of us glean from these folks? If you’re 35 or 49 or 57 and see people living their deepest lives after they’ve shed the curse of workism, should you drop out of the rat race and take this whole career thing less seriously?” (from The Atlantic shared on Facebook/Meta)

My journey today, and the genesis of this post, began when I read the email from Melanie Meehan at Two Writing Teachers about the upcoming student writing challenge this April with a link to the information. I realized that I wanted to promote this event on Meta through the Oregon Council of Teachers of English (OCTE) web page.

After doing so, I quickly changed to my personal page—I haven’t visited in a while—and saw a shared post by a valued friend (oh, that tricky algorithm) “The New Old Age” with the quote I’ve included above. I wanted to read this article, again that bot, so I clicked only to discover, as usually happens with The Atlantic, that I could not complete it without subscribing.

How many times have I almost subscribed to this periodical? So many! My interest has been piqued more than a dozen times, and I receive their overview newsletter each week. Today, though, I follow the steps to the part where payment is required. Several times before, I’ve stopped at establishing an account, but even as I type this, I am looking at the payment/subscription page and pondering…yes or no?

We already receive The New Yorker, and while I read it online as a perk of our full subscription, unless my husband specifically recommends an article in the print edition, weeks go by where I never even open it. He, however, reads it cover-to-cover. My mom subscribed to it throughout her lifetime, it was a perennial coffee table guest, so partially it’s that connection for me. When I do take the time to read something, I remain firm on its value. Admittedly, I have many covers saved in a folder and two framed on our walls.

I search “compare The Atlantic with The New Yorker” and find a wealth of information at the enlightening Eye & Pen, a travel blog site with no real credentials except that I’ve second-sourced a few of the facts the blogger declares, and they check out. (I won’t bore you with the fact-checking.) I read a that, “The Atlantic was initially created [in 1857] as a platform for discussing and promoting the abolition of slavery. Its founders aimed to provide a space for progressive thinkers to exchange ideas and engage in intellectual discourse.” That encourages me.

Now I move to a different consideration. If I purchase the “digital and paper” for $89.99, instead of digital only for ten dollars less, am I harming the environment? This leads me to ask,”Are printed magazines sustainable?” “Yes,” according to this marketing-focused website…surprise! Once again, the fact-checking does support the provided information. Physical copies are more easily shared, that’s for sure.

Last night we went out for dinner, a rare occurrence, and spent about $100 with tip for three good meals. One good dinner versus a year of The Atlantic—for less. Hmmm.

I’m exhausted now, and wondering why I ever started this, having almost, but not quite, lost interest in reading about “The New Old Age” altogether. I am hearing my good friend’s comment on turning 70, the stark reality of it, “Seventy isn’t the ‘new’ anything!” In truth, I have yet to leave my dedication and interest in education behind, still including it as a part of living, “my deepest life.”

I press, “Start my subscription—digital and print.”