Heart and Soul Writing

Helen Keller is fascinating to me, because she was (by necessity) a very reflective, "interior" person without in any way hiding from the world. Her autobiography makes that obvious. Again and again, she would put herself into new and often intimidating situations to gain knowledge and understanding, finding out as much as she could about the situation and reflecting on it extensively.

I think that comfort she felt in the quiet of herself impacted her writing in a huge way. Beyond the obvious external silence of being deaf, Helen Keller wrote with thoughtful, concentrated care. I wish I had that habit, but really, I often end up writing something superficial or flawed because I give in to the distractions of Facebook, music, or the "noise" of unrelated worries, ideas, and daydreams in my own head. Imagine sitting down and writing something straight through, putting all your thoughts, feelings, sense, and attention into it!

Maybe my distractibility is why I prefer typing. I like to skip sections of a paper, or jot down ideas, or scroll up and rewrite the beginning of my work any time without messing up the page and having to make copy after copy of the same paper. The technical limitations of the typewriter and the complications of her blindness made that impossible for Helen. Yes, she edited her work, but not by flitting superficially from section to section and idea to idea. I wonder whether she would have liked to write and edit like I do, if the technology of the moment had made that possible. Was the difference between our experiences of writing caused only by the physical constraints of Helen's situation, or by a more fundamental difference in willpower, distractibility, and personal depth?