Irene Smit: Gen Z are realizing the healing power of paper

In those days, paper was such an ordinary product. It was everywhere. Today young people grow up with a device in their hands, and don’t have that tactile feeling immediately around them. I’m beginning to see that they desire it. Young interns in my office tell me they are looking for ways to be offline and have discovered paper through hobbies such as collaging or vision boarding or journaling – it is like we are having a paper revival. People desire that tactility. 

When I started Flow magazine in 2008 with Astrid van der Hulst, we had been working at Marie Claire Netherlands and were both feeling like there was more to life than what was being shown in glossy magazines. We’d taken a mindfulness course and learned how to deal with things like perfectionism, failure and anxiety. Nobody was talking about mental health back then but we came up with a concept for a magazine that was about taking care of yourself, and an important part of that was paper.

For us, paper is so much more than just a thing you print letters on. It can feel like a great gift – it has so many textures, and you can use it in so many ways. In each issue of the magazine, we include two paper goodies – things like bookmarks, notebooks or postcards. These make the magazine more than just something to read and discard, it makes the magazine feel like a special present you give yourself. We wanted the magazine to show that creativity is a great way to stop overthinking. 

There are a lot of studies out now that look at how working with paper impacts the brain. For instance, it’s been found that if you read on paper rather than a screen you retain more information. Same with writing. In fact, last year schools in Sweden decided to remove tablets and digital learning from classrooms and go back to focusing on printed books and handwriting.

We all know that young people’s mental health is suffering, and everyone is looking for answers. There are a lot of great projects in schools and apps and such, but I thought they were missing something really tactile. We wanted to help young people who are seeking to take back their attention from the digital devices they’ve grown up with. We want to help them understand how being offline, working with paper and using their creativity is part of how they can take care of their mental health. I recently did a course on positive psychology, and a lot of the therapies and exercises involved paper – journaling or making vision boards, using creative or art therapy instead of just talk therapy.  

We have started to host our own events, to encourage young people to engage with paper more. Last year, at a festival hosted by the teen magazine Tina, we had a tent which invited young girls, ages 8-12, to make their own magazine. We asked them to reflect positively about themselves and had them talk to their best friends about each other, and they came away with a little magazine all about themselves. In one weekend, we had almost one thousand girls come through our tent.  

The thing about paper is, it doesn’t demand anything of you. It doesn’t beep. There’s no battery dying. There are all sorts of colors and textures. It can be empty, and it is there for you to fill. You don’t have to be a great painter or anything, you can just do your thing and throw it away at the end, but still have a nice time, cutting and pasting. You can spend an hour with paper and get into the flow of it. It really helps you get out of your head. Paper can offer rest and relaxation, and allows you to be present in the moment, which is what we all really need.”

As told to Daniela Walker. 

Photos: Jussi Puikkonen