in a nutshell - Cyber Access for the Technically Timid

 

Cyber Access for the Technically Timid (CATT) makes me feel all jazzy.  CATT offers a broad range of possibilities, from fun surfing the internet, to connecting via e-mail Facebook Skype et al, to blogging & - at its highest end - legacy building.  

CATT builds off of my experience with Mom, where the two of us collaborated on her internet access.  Some of our most productive times weren't spent at the keyboard, but having a chat over a cuppa, talking about things that interested Mom, sometimes drawing things out that she doubted would be of interest to anyone. Her thoughts, her memories, her stories from a childhood that missedbythismuch starting in Edwardian times, that included memories of joyfully banging the piano at the end of WWI, the pain (literally) of being a full-figured teen in the flat-chested Roaring Twenties, the stark days of the Depression, love's sweet call, losing a child, losing her O Best Beloved - they filled her posts & filled many hearts.

 

Mom eased her way into writing online.  My challenge is to take her organic process & put it into a template that others can use without the evolution.  

Too many older people don't think their stories have any value, not knowing how hungry younger folks are to hear them. Up to now, have hit brick walls in trying to duplicate with other oldersters the success of my earlier collaboration.  When I suggest sharing their stories, my older friends invariably say, "No one cares."  It startles them when I agree!   

 

"It's true.  Your children might not care.  None of my mother's older children showed any interest in getting her e-mails.  Michael urged her to STOP writing them, saying that it was a vanity of her old age that anyone outside of the family would care about her stories.  But she still wrote.  She wrote because of the notes she'd get from young men & women she only knew by their e-mail address, who shared their gratitude for them, for realizing how similar their challenges were to hers, for hearing her unconscious wisdom.  You're right that your children might not care, but your grandchildren will, friends you don't even have right now will.  And you will."

Of all the dreams I want to make come true, this is #1 because it arcs across all ages, even benefits society in general.  Our culture has gotten so far away from hearing the stories that were once commonplace for the older & elderly to share with family & friends.  The opportunities have vanished along with the regular afternoon cup of tea & cinnamon toast, the gabbing while making Sabbath dinners, the casual talk while out on a drive.  Let's use digital media to reconnect, to realize its generative potential.  

Mim, Peter, Mike - none of them read Mom's e-mails to her devoted dist list, but I still have people come up to say how much something she shared changed their life.  

Writing those e-mails didn't come naturally to her, at least not in the beginning.  It took a lot of cheer leading & encouraging & countless cuppas to get her to feeling okay with the process.  Mom had to release expectations of how others responded & just write for herself.  Which is why the people who can make a great success out of using the CATT template will be folks with writing experience, who have interviewing skills, and - above all - who enjoy older people.  

CATT excites me because it's so bloomin' creative.  Creating bonds between the writing partners, between the composer & his/her audience, between generations, between self & society.  Creating jobs & creating fun.  CATT promises to be for others what it was for me & my Mom - generativity at its BEST.