Faced With An Empty Roll

Recently I wrote a blog, titled, Literally.....There Is More Than One Way,  in which I shared the thought that there are multiple ways to approach and execute, everyday tasks. Along with this is the idea that there are also certain subjects that deserve to be added to, or expanded upon. I believe that the discussion surrounding the topic of creativity and the adoption of everyday tasks, faced by those with a handicap, to be just such a subject. It also came to my attention, through the response from a reader of the last blog, that there are several other methods of writing that they are currently using. They are ones that I also find very helpful, and which I would like to share with you. I often use these other methods, thereby successfully avoiding the need to clutch a pen in a death-grip, while trying to scribble anything remotely legible. Something that minutely resembles having come from modern day civilization, and not what appears to be the crude etchings on a cave wall that could either be a massive group buffalo hunt, or the depiction of an Amway Convention.

However, before I continue with the various methods of writing that I will......write about, I would like to share with you an alternative way that I have learned to button my shirt. Like tying my shoes, some days are worse than others when it comes to trying to maintain my grip on a little button. It can take me three or seven tries sometimes because just before I push the little guy through the hole, he will slip out of my fingers. The hardest part of the whole process is just simply trying to maintain my grip long enough to shove the button through to the other side because the one thing that experience has shown to me is that once he's successfully through the hole and settled on the other side, he's not getting back. Not unless that button breaks the multiple loops of thread that are holding him down, or I grab him and shove him backward through the hole, which I am not going to do until the day is over.

Anyway, the button-tying method is called The Paperclip. The first step of this particular method is to select a paperclip. This is where your creativity can really shine as there are quite a few size and color possibilities and I have included a picture as an example of some of your options.

Lot's of options. Somehow a safety pin got in the picture....another option, sure....but not one that I would recommend.

After you have made your selection and chosen a paperclip that fits your style, the next step is to figure out how you would like to control it. By that, I mean that it is up to your wild imagination to either choose to mount it onto a handle or just bend it and use it in its natural state. Again, I have provided a picture as a guide. You will notice that one of the mounting suggestions is a Popsicle stick. This is my particular favorite, as the stick had to be obtained by first consuming the Popsicle that was wrapped around it. In this case, it was a Mixed Berry Fruit Pop. 

I will now proceed to show you the Paperclip Method with a series of four pictures to illustrate:

Step 1.  While holding the button with one hand, use the other hand to insert the paperclip of your choosing into the button hole and bring it close to the button.

Step 2.  Insert the button into the paperclip.

Step 3.  Pull the button back through the button hole while you gently but firmly guide it with your thumb. The pressure is now off of you to maintain your grip on the slippery little plastic disc, and you can breathe easier. One more step and you're done.

Step 4.  Lay the button flat and release the paperclip. Congratulations, you successfully buttoned a button, and there are only five or six more to go. Refer to step 1 if you need a reminder.

Like many small details in life, writing is a skill and a useful tool that most people don't think about. When they need it, the process just needs to be there, without forethought or effort. Writing is a lot like toilet paper in the regard that you really don't give it much thought. Variations of toilet paper do not consume your day, but when you need it, that paper had better be there. I find the need to write to be much the same as reaching out, only to find an empty paper tube. The skill is just not there when I call on it, and it can be very frustrating.

Once in awhile, I have a need to write a note. Usually, it is something along the lines of instructions, or a form of information that I want to leave for my kids. Since I do not have any large stone slabs lying around, or a chisel, or even the necessary skills needed to avoid self-inflicted blunt force head trauma as I attempt to hammer out a message, I use a type and print method. I open a blank Word document, type whatever I want to say, and print it out. That method of communication is handy but becoming used less as I have been able to send a text message. Which is the subject of the next method. I am able to do a lot of what I need through the use of my phone. I already mentioned that I can text, but what is really helpful is that I can speak my messages, which I do almost all of the time. I have found this method of talking into my phone very useful for creating lists as well, from grocery lists to simply things I would like to accomplish or remember, throughout the day.

The last method I want to mention is one that I had written a blog about several months ago, but one that bares repeating. The blog was titled, Enter The Dragon...So To Speak, and was about my first experiences and impressions of the voice recognition software, Dragon. I find it to be a very useful tool, and when I use it to write a blog, one that cuts my writing time by more than half.

Through practicing the various methods of writing that I have outlined in this, and the previous blog, I have been able to eliminate a significant portion of the need to write. Certainly not all, and I still face the empty roll now and again. I just do the best I can, and let the rest worry about itself.