Do you sometimes wish paper was never invented? (My 1000th Post!) [View All]

The Chinese invented many great products like gunpowder, compasses, silk, noodles, forks and paper, just to name a few. But sometimes I wish I could go back in time to remove paper from their list of inventions. Oftentimes, I feel buried in paper everywhere, all of it being kept for some reason or another.

I have a lot of memorabilia, but keepsakes like photographs aren't the problem. I'm a photographer and filmmaker, so having stacks of photographs or scripts isn't as mentally draining as facing a stack of unrelated papers. I have filing cabinets, bins and drawers full of papers, letters from long ago friends, and stacks of IRS papers I'm required to keep. Since I had my own business it means I accumulated a lot of paperwork I have to keep just in case the IRS wants to audit me.

But what of the other paperwork a typical person accumulates? How many others have huge amounts of paper that has gotten to be unmanageable? And how do you purge the seemingly mountains of paper you acquire? Being a writer used to add to my burden, but since I began writing exclusively on desktop computers and then laptops the growth of my paper mountain slowed down.

Any ideas, tips, or methods you would like to share?

Or would you be willing to loan me a box of matches? Or a flamethrower! :)

OR

BTW #1: Paper was either invented in 105 AD or 200 years earlier, according to different history sources. But in both cases, China was the place of origin so we can blame them for those stacks of paper cluttering our houses today.

BTW #2: Now that I reached my 1,000th Post do I win anything? A new car? Cool vacation? Lot's of money? How do I collect my winnings? Will a 'prize patrol' show up at my door today?