5 Unexpected Ways my White Cane teaches me something about Writing on Medium
Why a Simple Object gives a lot of Meaning
I wouldn’t have thought white cane and writing have nothing to do with anything in my life.
I mean, those two things aren’t related at all, right?
- I use white cane every day to navigate my surrounding
- I write every day to keep on learning, developing and staying creative
What’s the correlation?
Nothing obvious at first.
But the more I see these aspects in my life, the more I’m able to derive some philosophical meanings from these two.
I will share to you why my white cane use (indirectly) has helped better my writing on Medium, and to become a better writer in general.
Let’s dive in!
#1 I’ve broken many, and will be a lot more
“The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” — Paulo Coelho
I can’t tell you how many white canes I have destroyed in my lifetime.
One time during college year I had successfully broken more than 7 white canes in a span of 7 month (1 canes per month), which shows you how flimsy the stick could be and how careless I was of not taking good care of it.
You break it, you replace it. No attachment.
This cane-breaking-experience reminds me so much about my writing journey on Medium.
- You start posting story but no one would read your article
- You keep trying and still no one would read your article
- But you keep on trying and experimenting anyway .
Pro Tip: Keep on creating, failing, making mistake, because that’s the only way you can grow.
#2 Who Said a White Cane is always “white”?
News Flash: It’s not!
Although many white canes are in fact white (don’t get it twisted guys) — but they aren’t all whites.
For example, my canes are vary in colours: some are black, silver, green, and I even have one of those stupid one like polka dot.
That’s why, don’t let the name “white canes” fools you.
Similar like writing on Medium.
Don’t let the trends, label or any set of principles preventing you from expressing the real you. At the end, your true color in writing, is your unique selling point to your audience.
No one can tell your story better than you.
Real Story + Unique Perspective = Your Personal Brand
#3 Different Stick for Different Settings
I have a different white canes for different occasions:
-a slick cane for formal settings
-a more sturdy/ugly cane for hiking/tracking
-a beat up cane for doing irons
-a smart and cool cane for dating purposes
Now, who says you can’t be stylish when blind?
I also applied these variety into my writing.
- I have a different ways to deal with writers block or procrastination
- I have a different ways to deal with the scarcity of ideas for my next contents
- I have a different ways to retelling the same topic over and over in order to not run out of things to say
Like using my white cane, I also need to have a variety so that I will not get bored when writing.
The goals of your writing might all be quite the same from one another, like doing what you love, get appreciated, and to eventually doing this thing at bigger level. But you also have to know it’s a long journey. Make sure you find different ways to stay consistent by diversifying your approaches, styles or technics to reach that destination.
#4 a Cane is more than just a Cane
“what a stupid piece of stick”
That’s my first thought when I received my first white cane at the age of 13.
At first, I thought I’d never use it.
But fast forward to now, I can’t imagine going outside of my apartment without my white canes in my hands.
More than just a stick, the white cane has become the extension of me.
The white cane gives me the sense of security, safety, independents, and for some people, identity as a blind people.
When I began writing for the first time, all I wanted to do was,
- Get monetized
- Get more followers
- And get paid
Now, having been in this platform for more than a year, reached 1+K followers, Medium Top Writer, I started to aim for something bigger.
- Share my values from my unique experience
- Create community of like-minded individuals to grow together
- Inspire others through my own story and help those who are one step behind me
I’m not saying getting paid and monetized are not important.
But to be able to play this game in the long term, you have to see writing than more just typing and hitting alphabets on your keyboard.
In short: seek the bigger prize!
#5 Keep it Simple STUPID
I was once given those smart canes with all the fancy technologies embedded into the cane.
You know, one of those white canes that could solve all the problems of blind people on the entire world.
The smart cane has the capability to:
- Identify object in front of it using sensor technology
- App integration with your smartphone, including the ability to name your cane and pare it with other wareable devices
- GPS detection technology, in case you lost it (I guess I’d be screwed if that’s happened to me”
Did I ever use the cane?
NOPE!
Not for a single bit!
The reason is because the cane were injected with all the unnecessary features that “blind people are not actually needed” On top of it, it is super-freaking-expensive, and it has weird looking handle that attracts a lot of unwanted attentions.
Not nice.
I ended up being fateful to my 5 bucks white cane almost every day.
It’s not so far-off from writing on the internet.
I sometimes find myself overcomplicating my writing, adding more sophisticated terms, animation, fancy logo, design — at the end of the day those things aren’t really matter that much.
The key about writing on Medium (or any platforms) is to tell your own story in the most simplest way, with no gimmiks, fancy lingo, or unnecessary stuff.
Focus on,
- Educating through your story
- Entertaining through your story
- Inspiring through your story
Forget about grammar. No one would care about that here.
Focus on telling the story. The story of you!
Blind people and content creating are one of the dearest topics in my heart. Therefore, I just launched my first news letter
On accessibility and inclusion, which aims to give you tips on making your content more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities, such as myself:)
Subscribe
if you want to know tips and information in making your digital content to be more accessible for people with disabilities, and engage them through your creation.
P.S. the picture is me walking with my white cane in the busy pedestrian walk in Jakarta Indonesia
