Ugly handwriting

I write all the time. Even when I process much more quickly using the computer, I still write. Those who know me best are familiar with my love for fountain pens and in the last few years I have put together a favorite collection I like to use on a regular basis.

And I can’t read my own handwriting at times.

Of course, there is a false standard of what “good penmanship” looks like, and I fall into that trap. What I want to avoid more is writing something down I can’t read.

I grew up learning to write cursive, which hasn’t been taught in schools for decades. The digital shift makes it so much easier to type away. Having handwriting as a skill (NOT as something to make beautiful and utilize as “art”) is still useful.

The Handwriting Legibility Scale uses five factors, such as readability and letter formation, to score children’s writing and determine early on if they would need extra help from an occupational therapist. For young children still developing motor skills and dexterity, learning how to write well by hand is an important skill to have before shifting to more hybrid models of writing or typing, Prunty said.

“They may shift more toward typing, but they will always have handwriting as a skill for note taking or whatever profession they go into,” she said.

More HERE.

Another casualty of going digital is the lost form of letter writing. In the last few years I have attempted to write more notes to people. The downside? I don’t have up to date addresses for people because most of the time we utilize email and text!!!

But writing notes is still a goal of mine.

In 2021, a CBS News poll found that 37% of American adults had not written and sent a personal letter in over five years, and another 15% had never written and sent a personal letter.

It’s an astonishing thought to me. Fifteen percent had never written and sent a personal letter!

I send emails and texts all the time. As a result, my brain adjusts and I think more in phrases and emojis (in a way) than I do in complete thoughts and sentences. When I sit down to write a letter… I get tired thinking of what to actually say!

Still, I will use good fountain pens, I will continue to journal in a notebook, and try to keep writing notes and letters to people (as soon as I get their addresses). I will continue to struggle to read my own handwriting at times. And I will enjoy every awkward moment.

AS A SIDE NOTE: I would love to send you a handwritten card (as long as it’s not a contest on good handwriting). If you’ve read this far, and you’d like a note, drop me an old fashioned email with your address in it. I need to keep collecting addresses!