Personal Story: “I am reminded anew of the need for empathy”

Yesterday I decided on a whim to use the wet wipe in my hand to clean my keyboard with my laptop still on. Not long after, I realised half my keyboard wasn’t working as it should. I was given troubleshooting advice which failed.

I scolded myself for giving away my one external keyboard thinking I wouldn’t need it when I moved office. I tried to do what I could with my laptop but as evident in the image here… I couldn’t name my new video recordings properly. It felt futile to even try to work.

Because I couldn’t work as I usually did, I felt this sense of nagging sensation, irritation and displacement throughout the day. I was tired, restless, and unsure what to do with myself. Exaggerated as it sounds, it felt like the world wasn’t the same and didn’t make sense anymore.

I thought of people who have a hard time navigating through life, people I work with illness and people with disability, and people being displaced by natural disasters and war. When they’ve described how everything seemed more difficult than other people, things being always difficult, things being always out of reach for them… I could empathise to an extent but after yesterday, I am reminded anew from all this how this felt in my body and a small glimpse of how it might feel for others.

The good news is my friend Elmer Tan has helped fix my keyboard and I’m so grateful for his friendship.

Technology enables and through technology, I support my clients, generate content, and continue to try to reach out to more people.

P.S. I’ve been reminded not to have any water source around my laptop. One of my laptops died when I spilled water on my keyboard. Consider yourself reminded too.

(Written: 2 April 2022)