Token Taker

I consciously never learned how to type. This was entirely intentional. I refused to learn how to type. I may be the only person on Earth who can "hunt and peck" at 60 words per minute. 

Today and tomorrow, I am live blogging from the BlogHer Business Conference. Rita Ahrens, a talented and successful blogger, is submitting beautifully formatted live blog posts at 120 wpm without a typo. I'm submitting mine MUCH slower and in a slightly more overwhelmed fashion. She's a professional, I get it. Editing and writing are her job. Still, I look at her perfect formatting in record time, capturing word for word what's happening, and wish I could do that, too. Maybe learning how to type wouldn't have been such a bad idea after all. 

Did you see the movie "While You Were Sleeping"? Corny chick flick, yes, but for me Sandra Bullock's character was all too familiar. I've gone through most of my adult life trying to keep from being her portrayal of the "L" token taker in Chicago. I didn't want to feel downtrodden by a system. I wanted to CREATE the system. 

I watched my mom struggle to raise a family on an admin salary, and there was no way I was going to disappoint her by having any excuse to follow that same route. She wanted more for me and I want more for me, too. So I figured if I didn't learn to type, I couldn't be someone's admin. Now as a blogger, that seems rather foolish. I could be much faster and much more effective if I had learned to type properly. 

Still, every time I begin my hunt and peck routine I am reminded of the goals I have ahead of me. It's sort of my form of rebellion, and a little reminder to keep dreaming bigger and bigger.