Where has penmanship gone? I didn’t feel its loss until I recently received a letter in beautiful calligraphy. It brought back memories of 2nd Grade, learning cursive, bending over my paper, tongue perched over my lip, diligently and intently creating those smooth round letters that flowed together making me feel so very grown up. (smile) And how through the years of school, college, pre-computer era term papers and writing, writing, writing. Writing fast and furious to make the deadline of a final; writing Christmas cards, writing to friends, writing in my journal. And slowly over the years watching my finely honed script degenerating into scratches and marks and almost indecipherable ticks. And today most of my writing is done on a computer at lightning speed, sometimes faster than I can think, putting down words and thoughts before I think they come into my head.
There is a grace and elegance in calligraphy. It culls up a style and poise that seeps through the eyes like comforting elixir. The writer is more thoughtful in his words; they are carefully chosen and a phrase is eloquent and almost musical to the reader.
It’s a shame, really, that we have become so enmeshed in our computers and the wide world of the internet that nearly all our written word is through a keyboard and not through such a skilled artist’s venue as one holding an ink pen.
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3 comments:
Recipients of my atrocious handwriting would probably prefer an e-mail, but I know what you mean about handwriting. Last week I got a handwritten note from a longtime reader. It was so delightful, and you know what? When someone takes the time to sit down and write something, and send it through the mail-- it does seem more special and meaningful.
spell checker, sad but true.
Everyone I write to gets a computer generated letter or an email ... except Aunt Kay. I write to her about once or twice a year, and always handwritten. Granted, I've not used longhand for many, many years. I attribute that to my engineering background where all lab notes must be readable and in the engineers own handwritting. However, I like to think that my hand printed letters to Aunt Kay are appreciated.
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