It was a dark and stormy night. My client was writing an email all alone. She was hunched over her keyboard with only the light from her computer illuminating her dark wood-paneled den. She usually waited for our biweekly lesson to reply to emails, but there was a growing sense of urgency to get back to her friend, and I was away.
She typed and typed, knowing there were some mistakes but she was afraid to go back and correct them. It was as if the walls were closing in around her. She was scared of hitting RETURN to start a new paragraph – she thought she might lose what she had written.
Did it all really happen that way? No, I exaggerated a little because I love Halloween. But she really was scared.
She showed it to me the following week. Her email was a solid block of type. What did I say? I smiled and said:
• You sent an email all by yourself
• Yes, you made a few typos but look how much you got right
• You were able to convey all the information
• And you did it even though you were so scared
Then she realized what she had done: she confronted her fear and made it disappear!
This Halloween, face your computer fears! It’s okay if you misplace a comma or type a word in all capital letters. Will your friend mind? No! She’ll be delighted to hear from you. It might be tricky but she’ll sure be in for a treat.
Nancy Spear
Nancy's Tech Help for Older Adults
310-365-9951 • info@nancys-tech-help.com