The Wheelbarrow and Keyboard

why simple tools are not luxuries

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William Carlos Williams was right about the wheelbarrow.

I finally bought one, after convincing myself since 2018 that my garden was too small, and that I could do the backbreaking work myself. For someone with chronic joint pain, I can be ridiculously stubborn sometimes.

So far, I’ve used my new wheelbarrow to carry bags of mulch, as a potting bench, as an extra bird bath during a heatwave, to temporarily hold garden debris for the compost pile, and to catch and reuse excess rain in the vegetable beds. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s been life-changing, but it sits there in the back of the house like an old friend waiting to support me if I need help.

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In my writing life, I decided to splurge and buy myself a new fancy mechanical keyboard and mouse set for $90, and a $20 laptop stand to raise the height of the screen. Not much of a splurge, you might think. Well, to me upgrades that aren’t necessary feel that way. I already have a really nice Lenovo laptop that has a perfectly fine built-in keyboard.

Except it wasn’t. I spend hours teaching and grading while hunched over a small, school assigned laptop. Then I spend hours writing novels hunched over my personal laptop. My body was slowly resenting me.

So going into summer writing mode, I took the time to really think about what would lure me back to the screen every day. Yes, sometimes I handwrite in journals, but at some point, I need to face the digital page.

Oh. My. God. Check it out:

The clickety-clack of this keyboard and the depth of the keys makes it sound like my fingers are tap dancing. It’s such a happy, productive sound in my office where before my laptop keyboard was BLAH. My shoulders already feel looser since I'‘m no longer in training to become the Hunchback of Norte Dame.

I’ve written almost every single day, often for double sessions in the morning and evenings, after buying this keyboard.

Simple tools can have a profound effect on us and change the way we experience the world. For me, summer is when I finally have the time to slow down enough to listen to myself and re-evaluate what I do, why I do it, and if there’s a small change I could make in how I do it.

It has taken me a long time to get to this point. Growing up in a constant state of survival, simple tools can feel like luxuries. When there’s not enough to go around, you just do the thing and struggle through it. It teaches you resilience, but it also makes you feel guilty for any investment in yourself.

I’ll be 50 in two more years. I get to have the tools now! :)

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any tools for hobbies or work that have really had an impact on you.