About Me

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Ilov Integrated Arts, LLC, is owned and operated by Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP. Cheryl integrates her knowledge of the science of physical therapy with her passion for the movement arts. She is a licensed physical therapist, Pilates instructor, Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner, dancer and martial artist. It is her firm belief that many painful conditions, as well as stress and fatigue, can significantly improve through movement.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

When spam was ham in a can....

     It took me a long time to embrace modern technology. Three years ago, the only thing I could do on a computer was send and retrieve emails. And even that didn't always go well. Until a few months ago, I didn't even know what spam was. I always thought it was ham in a can. It never did appeal to me, so it made sense when people would use that word with a look of disdain on their face.
    
   I've come a long way, and I am proud to report that I am completely self taught. Which means that I have made a a lot of mistakes along the way. I have unknowingly breached online etiquette, unwittingly looked like a nit wit, and have often appeared downright ridiculous as well as unsophisticated. But, I learned a lot.

    Early in my timid exploration of this form of communication, I was invited to join two online communities. One encouraged participation and dialogue among it's members. I guess the other one didn't, which I discovered after committing an online faux pas by responding to a conversation. Apparently the "conversation" was all one sided, and I was rewarded with a very public, brutal and humiliating verbal attack. Online, of course. My "friend" would never have the nerve to speak to me that way to my face. I was so upset I had to seek professional help. It took a few weeks to realize that I wasn't the one that had the problem, but it still took a while to recover from that. 

    I did recover, and I got back on the horse (or the keyboard) and continued to learn the magic of modern technology. I still make mistakes, and sometimes I make the occasional and unintentional faux pas. I just don't beat myself up over it anymore, nor do I let anyone else do it, either.

    In reality, I really am an old fashioned kind of girl. I prefer face time over screen time. I prefer holding a hand instead of a smartphone. To me the sound of a voice is much sweeter than the sound of a keyboard. Most of all, I prefer a lively conversation rather than the silence of a written response. After all, I can talk faster than I can type, and with a lot less mistakes as well. 

    Besides, I'm also a people person. I love meeting them, talking to them and working with them. It is my life's work. I need to embrace that part of myself just as I continue to embrace this wonderful but often confusing high tech world we live in. 
  
    But, I still do miss the days when spam was ham in a can. Everything just seemed easier back then. 



Be healthy!
Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP