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July 2009 That Reminds Me
Key strokes
 by Emily Schilling
Editor
I’m sitting behind my computer’s keyboard now and my mind is wandering — as it often does while I consider the subject of my next column. While gazing at the bright white computer screen, I type. I type stream-of-consciousness inklings of ideas, amusing musings, my thoughts on current events. I just type … I type while I think.
Typing and writing are like eating and breathing to me. After all, I’ve been composing my thoughts on a computer (and before that, on a typewriter) for eons now. It’s my job. It’s a part of my life.
A, S, D, F, J, K, L, ; — my fingertips roost on the home keys, drawn to them as if by magnetic charge. If you asked me, I couldn’t tell you where the letter Z was located on a keyboard, but the pinky finger on my left hand instinctively knows where to find it.
I hit all the right keys without even thinking about what I’m doing. My mind decides what to communicate and with eight of my fingers I translate my thoughts instantly into words — just like that.
Thousands of words from 26 letters can only appear on my computer screen through the touch those eight fingers. The action is effortless.
Each letter makes its own subtly distinct sound when I press down on its key. As my thoughts race or pause and my fingers follow suit, or as I move my right hand up to my desktop to click my mouse, I inadvertently compose a “song” of different rhythms. I do that simply by typing!
Now that I think about it, working on my keyboard is probably my personal form of artistic expression. I can’t sing (except embarrassingly off tune!) and I though I played the flute in high school, I was never musically gifted.
But I’ve always been in awe of the musically talented, especially those who can play the piano. By pressing down on the keys just so, they are able to create beautiful music. I don’t have the talent of a skilled pianist, but by similarly pressing the keys on my computer keyboard I am able to turn thoughts into words. Both the piano keyboard and the computer keyboard hold the key to communication and expression. Touching the keys in just the right way — with the right inspiration — can potentially touch souls with the magic of prose or melody.
Key strokes are such swift, gentle movements … yet at the same time they can be immensely powerful.
Written By: eceditor
Date Posted: 6/30/2009
Number of Views: 332
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