"Shift" is more than a key on a keyboard.
When you press it together with numbers, it introduces symbols that can heighten what you write by adding expression, like exclamation marks when you want to emphasise a point, or parentheses/brackets when you want to add an aside, provide further information or an academic reference.
"Shift" is situated on both sides of the keyboard.
This means when you type, you can access it quickly depending on its proximity to the letters you select to create your piece of writing.
At its most basic level, pressing "shift" can temporarily convert your text into upper case (of course if you get tired of holding down "shift", you can hit "caps lock" and start shouting in the virtual world, which is characteristically considered unacceptable in online etiquette).
With the different functions that "shift" has on a keyboard, it happens because you pressed "shift". How easy would it be to take control of your own contexts and just make shift happen with an easy press of a button? This makes me think about how I shift in my own life, what shifts occur around me and how shift happens in other contexts. I said shift happens, not the other type of thing that happens...
Subtle changes in status, position or transference, exchanging one thing for the other, or making a slight adjustment - does shift improve what we do, think, say and feel? Is somebody telling us how to shift or when to shift? What leads to or prompts shift and how will we know that shift has happened if we don't know if we would like to shift?
Do you want someone to convince you to shift, be in control of the shift or empower others to make a shift for the better? Who knows what better means these days?
Shift is inevitable.
Whether you make shift happen or shift happens to you - shift happens.
This blog post is dedicated to +Anthony Faitaua for giving me the title :-)