When I was a little girl, there was not the assertive technology we have today. My mother, father, sister and I used paper and pen to write letters, cards, messages, notes and communication. We did not have the luxury that today’s generation takes for granted. It was very difficult to communicate across the world in a minute’s time. Nor, could I pop on the computer and connect with my dearest friend’s instantaneously.
When I was seven and eight years old, I remember banging away at my parents old Underwood typewriter. What a gas! It was a thrill! I would move our dining room chair over to the credenza, where it stood, take out a sheet of 8 by 11 typing paper, line it up perfectly with my right hand so I could insert it properly, and roll it to the beginning of the page. Somehow, this old machine gave me a gift. Who knew what was to come in decades because of this writing instrument. Look at the freedom it inflicted inside of me and so many others? Who knew that this typewriter would free many a minds? Who knew that it would allow people to defy all odds? But it did. It captivated, mesmerized and fascinated so many of us. That eventually it escalated to a whole different level. And look at the freedom it has brought!
This Underwood enticed me. It lured me. And it called me to attention by sitting at the keyboard hypnotized by the though of what I wanted to say just like Rosalyn Russell, in The Front Page, and, William Holden, in Sunset Boulevard.
At that precise moment, I was spell bound; I was taken in by the moment. I couldn’t do anything but let my thoughts pour out of me, filling my mind, my being, my fingers, and my veins, with a burning energy to write. Word by word, notion by notion, they began to flow. With each deep breath I would sit very still as the images and ideas came to mind; allowing them to simmer for a second. Oozing and trickling down through my fingertips, like a fresh pot of percolated coffee. While allowing my consciousness; to merge with my sub-consciousness as it revealed to me what I wanted to say. The words were there! The words flowed all the way down through the cover pads on the tips of my fingers; onto the keyboard like they were always there. Miraculous! I came up with something to say; speaking clearly in a voice expressing myself by pounding away at the keyboard. And I do mean pounding at the keys. This gal with a learning disability, who could not even write a clear constructed sentence, was typing. What a moment! Wow! What a significant moment to have these words, form a sentence, and come together for me.
And, even though I wasn’t an Emily Post, I was compelled, constrained, and, duty-bound. I was captivated to type on this wonderful, old, antique machine and write something sensational. Something that would capture, engage, and catch people’s attention- something that would draw the reader in; something to stimulate their interest.
Thus, when I watched these old classic movies, they released a passion inside of me. They released a fervor, a zeal, and an enthusiasm which sparked my imagination. Since then, times have changed. Thankfully, now, in our day and age, I can send an email message around the world in just a few minutes time. I can connect, click, and voila, my party is their in a flash. I can also connect through Yahoo, AOL, ICQ, or Windows live, and have a freedom I never experienced as a child. Instead of talking on the telephone, with a party-line, I can talk through typing. I can also sit back at my desk leisurely, talking through Skype with a video cam. Who would have thought… forty years ago?
It gives people with motor coordination issues a freedom I never had. A freedom to have a meaning and purpose, where otherwise might not be. A freedom to engage in conversation, and a freedom to make connection‘s with people their own age and contacts with those of same likes, dislikes, and interest in a moments time.
What my generation got through imagination and visual imagery, the past two generation have gotten in technology. This freedom would not exit today if we didn’t allow ourselves to dream and experiment and to defy all odds, as well as to be a team in leading technology. Messenger has taken us to a whole other level and has given many, thousands of people, otherwise confined to watching T.V. a voice and a new outreach in life.
