At the ripe old age of 56, I keep learning new things. Though I also keep learning new skills (with the help of my partner and a friend, I put a new roof on my house this past summer), the new things I am speaking of here are much simpler than that, things that fall into the category of “I probably should have known that by now”. I am sharing them here just in case you too did not know what I didn’t know and would therefore appreciate knowing these simple but valuable things.
This will be an ongoing list to which I’ll add new items either as I remember having learned them or when new light bulbs go off.
Today: Don’t look at the keyboard while texting!
I was taught to not look at my fingers when I learned how to type (on an actual typewriter decades ago). It was an important part of my development as a pianist to be able to play with my eyes on the sheet music in front of me rather than at my hands. And yet, when I bought my first cell phone, it somehow didn’t occur to me that what was true of typing and playing the piano would be true of texting.
Then, one day, it suddenly occurred to me (in the way that revelations do) to try looking at the text I was writing rather than at the letter “keys”. Bam! Within a few sentences, I noticed an improvement in the accuracy of my typing. I could feel my brain rejoicing at finally being given the feedback from my eyes that was necessary for it to fine tune the movement of my fingers!
All these (many) years I have been bewildered and frustrated by my seeming inability to improve my skills at texting. How could I not get ANY better at something I do every day?! Well, because texting is requires hand-eye coordination and I was leaving out the eyes! Or rather I wasn’t giving them the information they needed to assess the accuracy of the movements of my fingers and provide feedback to them.
So, now I know. And now, who knows how fast and accurate a texter I will become!
Thoughts and Such 