On Tech and CourageSeptember

This website you are now viewing, the website I designed and put together, is nothing short of a miracle! I am not techy, and I’m sure I’ll mess something up. I know that makes me officially old, but that fear is deeply ingrained…

When I was a senior in high school in the mid-1980s, I wrote my first paper on our new family computer. At the time, I was thrilled with the possibilities and as yet unscarred by technology, so true to form, I wrote late into the night before said paper was due. Needless to say, what I typed wasn’t an edited draft of the paper; the words on the screen were the only version of the paper that existed.

When I finished, I turned off the machine and went to bed, hoping for a couple hours of sleep before printing and turning in this technological wonder. But, when I went to print in the morning, my paper wasn’t there. I hadn’t clicked save.

I don’t remember what I did in that moment about that paper, but I do remember in vivid detail the distress and the fear the experience engendered. I’m still not techy—I’m still petrified I’ll inadvertently mess something up. I watch my kids in awe when they click around to figure out new tech; I am certain if I click something I’ll make an unwanted, permanent change.

So you can see why I say the website you are now viewing is nothing short of a miracle! Granted it has taken me a long time, and a lot of outsider guidance, to get it in publishable form. But, my baby is now in your hands. The fear I felt when my finger hovered over the publish button took me right back to that morning in 1986 when I realized I hadn’t hit save. But all these decades later, after I clicked publish, the feeling of accomplishment, of a small victory, when this baby went live, made me tingle all the way from the bottom of my toes.

Reflecting on this experience, I realized many of my clients feel that same kind of fear when they consider writing their story. It’s an overwhelming task to think about putting words to their experiences, and it can be fear-inducing to contemplate sharing those words with anyone else. Our stories are personal and anything personal can make us feel vulnerable.

Our goal at The Lofty Quill is to give you the tools and support you need in a safe environment for you to tell and share your stories. Yes, you have to take a deep breath and take the first step, but I can almost promise you that when you do, you too will tingle all the way from the bottom of your toes!

Your story matters and the world will only be better when you give it voice!

September 23, 2025