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In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Pens and Pencils.”
When was the last time you wrote something substantive — a letter, a story, a journal entry, etc. — by hand? Could you ever imagine returning to a pre-keyboard era?
I still write by hand quite often. I honestly believe that the feelings and musings flow from me better when I am writing them as opposed to clicking on a keyboard. I journal in pen and write many of my “first draft” blogs in pen or pencil. I feel very fortunate to have a journal with some of my mother’s poetry and thoughts written in her beautiful hand. It’s like having a piece of who she was and I am certain that it would not have carried the sentiment and meaning if I had been handed to me on a flash drive.
There is also something very special about receiving a hand written letter. The penmanship seems to flow with the writer’s personality and even captures their mood. An email from a loved one is appreciated and can convey love and emotion, but receiving a fat envelope with that familiar scrawl on the outside trumps it every time in my opinion.
During school days, it was nice to see a note written by your teacher telling you what a great job you had done. It showed that they had taken the time to seriously consider your hard work and meant much more than just a mere sticker or gold star. Speaking of school; who still has their high school yearbook and doesn’t enjoy looking back at the silly “signatures” our young and immature, yet loyal friends left us to remember them over the years.
We live in such a hurry up and rush world that things like letters or even handwritten notes are more meaningful than ever. They have the power to cause up to pause for a moment and consider some of our quickly dying past times that perhaps we should rescue before they are forever a memory.
And with that, I think I will go write a card or letter, with a pen!
What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human hand-clasp. ~Author Unknown
Daily Prompt: Pick a pen or a font
Write my life in cursive
I have decided I want my life to be lived out in cursive. Yes, I am aware that this seems a rather strange thing to say. At the enlightened age of 47, I have decided that I desire the days of print to be fewer, taken over, if you will, by more days of cursive. What do I mean by this, you ask?
It’s quite simple really. I have always been a very structured, straightforward person and although there is nothing wrong with that, I sometimes find myself caught up in the predictable.
You see print is straight, plain and easy to foretell. It often has sharp edges, taut lines, without much room for improvement. There isn’t a whole lot of bending, or give and take to it.
However, cursive is pretty and it catches the eye with its beautiful gyrations, its curviness, its varied form and twisting, turning lines. Some exhibitions of cursive writing are glamorous and others are hideous, but they all add character and personality to a hand written note.
To sum it all up and conclude, I want more fun, more beauty, more unpredictability, more excitement and not so much structure and precision. I’ve been learning and living this lately and I’m happier than ever because of it!
Don’t get me wrong, I wish to remain predictable and structured in the areas where people are counting on me, where I have a job to do. I’m referring to the downtime, the days off, the vacations and the day to day moments of refreshing. I want to continue on this course of learning to abandon my rigid plan and get out there and live and do and love like there is no tomorrow. Because, you never know, there might not be. Blessings!
Long walks and dark chocolate 