The Spartan Reader: Found Magazine

We all lose things.  We’ve all experienced that frustrating moment when our inability to remember an items location leaves us disconcerted and empty handed.  Have you ever wondered what happens to the things that you lose?  At one time or another, most of us have stumbled upon a random note, picture, or drawing of unknown origin that someone has accidentally left behind during the hectic rush and busy schedule that has become a modern lifestyle.  To those who take the time to appreciate it, finding these trinket treasures gives a small sense of overwhelming fascination. 

From audacious confessions of unconditional love, to notes of regretful and mortifying apology, to frantic scribbles of childish purity, Found Magazine captures, collects, and displays these random and obscure glimpses into the lives of anonymous others to exhibit our overall resistance to confrontation and lack of ability to face the unknown reaction to our resounding, audible words.  In some notes, the frequent solecisms and unpracticed penmanship displays the work, innocence, and inexperience of a child.  The sincerity and utter passion of the content addresses the naive and enchanting character of youth.  The typical child with a shy nature mangles their way through loopy, backwards, and indecipherable letters to create a masterpiece expressing the things they may not say of their untainted passion and genuine thoughtfulness.  In other finds, the hard lines, uniform presentation, and distinct order of other notes present an obvious sign of a practiced hand and experienced life.  The exuberant content and acute focus of the notes displays the complexity and acute focus of a trained and practiced mind that has seen days beyond youthful folly.  The qualities of zealous boldness and sincere confidence are rare, but on paper the mind is free and lacks the critical eye of authority or judgmental remark of peers.  To young and old, confrontation waves its seductive hand towards the ease of expressing through a pen what is difficult to explain through spoken words.  From the loopy and shaky to the organized and flowing, the penmanship alone creates a feel of a diverse microcosm.  If the plethora of handwriting were not enough, the variety of content grasps time in a tangible form by revealing the different stages and experience in life through the small freeze frame of stumbled upon notes.  Situations and experiences alter, but the ability to better fully expose one’s feelings and thoughts is accomplished best with cowardly elegance on paper.