When Technology Was Magic
How Creativity, Play, and Connection Shaped Our First Digital Experiences
I took my first computer class in the early 1980s. I must have been seven or eight years old.
We were learning Turtle Graphics/Logo on an Apple II, and I was completely mesmerized.
Before we ever touched the keyboard, our teacher had us stand up. She’d shout commands (forward, turn right, turn left) and we’d move our bodies the way the turtle would move on the screen. We learned logic by inhabiting it. Code wasn’t abstract. It was physical. Playful. Creative.
Something unlocked for me that day.
Not long after, we got a Commodore 64 at home. It wasn’t quite as cool as a Macintosh, but I loved it fiercely. I played Maniac Mansion, typed up stories like I was a Very Serious Writer™, and proudly printed them out on our screeching dot-matrix printer.
This week’s post is about the benefits of technology when it’s designed for creativity, connection, and human well-being, not just attention.
Technology as Play and Creative Discovery
Technology, to me, felt like possibility.
Somewhere along the way, that story changed.
Today, so much of our conversation about technology is framed around harm: distraction, addiction, polarization, burnout. And to be clear, those concerns are real. I write about them. I teach about them. I take them seriously.
But when every conversation about technology becomes a warning, we lose something important.
We lose the parts where technology helps us connect, create, and learn.
Recently, I asked readers how technology has genuinely helped them, and their responses were thoughtful, grounded, and even moving in their stories.
Technology as Connection Across Distance
People talked about staying connected to the people who matter most: texting loved ones, FaceTiming family across distance, and maintaining friendships scattered across the globe.
For those who work or live in relative solitude, technology wasn’t a distraction; it was a lifeline to other creatives, thinkers, and kindred spirits.
Technology as Community and Belonging
Several people shared how online communities (Facebook groups, Substack spaces, gaming worlds) helped them through major life transitions: disability, grief, solo parenting, identity shifts, career changes.
Community isn’t optional. It’s infrastructure.
One reader described using AI to create images of a late pet as a form of comfort. Another shared how online groups turned into real-life friendships that changed their family’s daily life.
Technology as Access and Accommodation
Others spoke about creativity unlocked. Writing with AI as a feedback partner. Designing mockups that physical limitations once made difficult.
Learning to cook better through chefs on Instagram.
Exploring art inside video games.
Building businesses, brands, and confidence that lasted years.
And again and again, a simple truth surfaced:
It’s not bad by itself. It’s how we use it.
Good technology doesn’t scream for attention.
It invites curiosity.
It opens doors.
It makes room for people.
The early technologies that shaped me weren’t optimized for engagement or monetization. They felt like tools. Sometimes clunky. Often slow. But full of potential. You had to do something with them, make something, learn something, share something.
I don’t think we’re nostalgic because the old internet was perfect. It wasn’t.
I think we’re nostalgic because it made us feel capable.
That potential still exists.
Yet, technology can support mental health when it helps people find language for experiences they didn’t have words for. It can foster belonging by connecting people across geography, disability, identity, or isolation. It can support growth when it’s used to build, write, play, and imagine, not just scroll.
The question isn’t whether technology is “good” or “bad.”
The question is: what kind of relationship are we building with it?
This is the thread that runs through this space: thinking together about technology, mental health, and how we stay connected, and human, in a digital world.
Maybe part of moving forward isn’t rejecting technology altogether, but remembering what first made it feel like magic, and choosing to build more of that.
How has technology genuinely helped you with your creativity, relationships, or well-being?
I’ve been really moved by the stories people have shared about how technology has helped them create, connect, or get through hard seasons. If any come to mind for you, I’d love to hear them!
Thanks to those that have already shared! I’m really curious, what’s one way technology has genuinely made your life better?
Better relationships? Mental health? Learning? Creativity?
I’d love to hear more real-life examples.