Every so often, I begin to think about how my life has changed and is changing as a result of the technology we have in the 21st century. I’m old enough to remember having taken a typing class in high school and having to wait my turn to use one of the six electric typewriters. Other than that, I learned to type on a manual typewriter.
Really.
Six.
Electric.
I never got really fast and my method was more like “hunt and peck” so I was never right up there at the top of my class. (Yes, our high school classes were very small and we took typing through the “business” department.) But I liked the sound of the machine and own a few manual typewriters as collectible items. I still have and sometimes use an electric typewriter out in the barn. Remember, I can travel through time by going from my back door, through the yard, and out to the barn.
Flash forward to now, where the ever-present means of communication(s) via laptops, on cell phones, or through voice/text messaging through my phone can sometimes occupy a great deal of my time. I can get lost for hours checking this and that, researching and reading new ideas, and checking social sites.
I’m easily distracted. I need to focus or I’ll not get anything done and I KNOW this about myself!
Anne Lamott, whose work I admire, made a point today on a social site in which she said (I’ll paraphrase) that almost anything mechanical can be fixed by unplugging it and then plugging it again. People too, she added. I know that can be interpreted in a great many ways, but after I complete this post, I think I’ll unplug. I’ll pick up and visit with an old musical friend. And just for a moment, I’ll call it “research” on my next writing project and then pick up a pencil and write on paper.
Spending time with a long time friend……
I’ll be back. I hope you’ll find a way to get something creative accomplished, too!
Paula B. Puckett 