Just the other day, I was completing a form. As I handed the paper over, I was told I had excellent penmanship. I was taken aback as I hadn’t heard this word in years. ‘Penmanship’, the mere art of writing. It was satisfying to know someone actually noticed my handwriting. I do like to write and in this digital era it seems like it’s lost its vibe and become something of yesteryear. Why don’t we write anymore? Why has it become so hard to plough through the whole process? Writing letters and correspondences by hand, there was just something so authentic about the whole exercise. It seems so primeval now like an indigenous form of art.
When you handwrite something, your brain has to slow down to meet the speed of your hand. You think clearer and you translate exactly what is in your thoughts at that exact moment, no shortcuts, no rushing. It’s like baking, you can’t hurry the process. When you hand write a letter to someone, it becomes personal and a sentimental archive. It feels special to know that at that moment someone actually took the time to put pen to paper and write to you. It’s a priceless experience for both the writer and reader.
In my primary years, before the era of the smartphone and email, we had penpals. Someone in another country that you friend through the exchange of letters. Although a penpal was someone you never met, my penpal was my grandfather, we hardly met, he lived in another country but our love grew through these letters. We both used all the English we knew and scribbled it on our letters to each other.
I remember collecting stamps from all the letters I received and I treasured my fountain pen like it was gold.
I moved away to another country and writing letters remained a large part of my tie with my loved ones. I still send greeting cards today, yes, a text is much easier but I hope there are some folks out there, like me, who remain loyal to this irreplaceable technique. It’s one of life’s little pleasures. I’m reading ‘The diary of Anne Frank’. As a child, she hand wrote her thoughts, so many penned letters pulled together to publish a whole book. I’m quite certain children today don’t even know how to address an envelope, its sad. Every generation should study the skill of letter writing. Your penmanship doesn’t matter as much as the key to just composing a correspondence.
So, I invite you to bring out a paper or a greeting card and your favorite pen, sit at a table, with a cup of tea, and write to a dear friend or a loved one. Let the words flow, it doesn’t have to be an agenda, it could be just because. Let your mind unravel and take in the joy of this exercise. When you come to the end, seal it with some love. Unquestionably you will feel blissful. There is something undoubtedly very special in seeing an envelope hand addressed to you and inside you find a handwritten note from someone special, sent with love.