Among Friends

[Shanus]

@spiderw   I have pens with ink cartriges, large barrels and medium points...I seem to hold a larger pen better. Love an ink pen...permanent ink, though.

I have one in every place I'd write...my desk, studio, at my counter for grocery lists and with my daily journals. Yay for Staples...got them there.

[Shanus]

@Sooner   It doesn't matter what our writting looks like, but even my signature on documents has changed from 20 yrs. ago. I love it when I can initial on the line.

We did wills, POAs, DNRs, trusts for the grandchilden, etc. at the attorney's office last week and there were red sticky arrows everywhere to sign, date and initial. Besides my hand being tired by the end of the 2 hrs., my signature was really messy.

[Shanus]

@Kachina624   Good idea, but I'm plugging along and practicing my writing whenever I can. If I slow down, it's OK and you can read it...

[Shanus]

@hckynutjohn   Hi John. I love a thick pad of paper, especially lined and have started purchased packages of legal pads...even for letters or grocery lists.

I think taking notes for art classes, quickly jotting down reminder notes on those darn sticky notes caused me to rush and print/script/cursive, a true mash up of all types. 

I don't want to lose the skill that our kids will rarely learn or use, so am slowing it down and now trying to write with purpose.

[Shanus]

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@jubilant wrote:

My handwriting is not at all what it used to be. I'm considering printing my notes and letters.

This post reminded me of my dear mother. We lost her just a little over a year ago.  She had the most beautiful handwriting all her life....even up until the year she died at 91 yrs.old. People often commented about it.

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@jubilant   So sorry for your loss. I kept many letters and cards from my parents and tied them with ribbon.

Their handwriting didn't change that much through the years. Even in their 90's, they rarely used the computer, didn't text or email, so they HAD to keep writing. That's the difference now.

[Harpa]

Back in the day when penmanship meant something....I used to get awards. Nowdays, I am thinking faster than my writing, and it shows! At one point, I conscientiously changed my handwriting. (I used to do handwriting analysis, and still believe in graphology.)

In my textbooks and other papers, I write all kinds of notes in the margins, and honestly, from one semester to the next, I have trouble reading what I wrote.

If we had to handwrite on message boards, I sure would never bother. Typing seems to flow better with my thinking.

[Harpa]

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@781Florist wrote:

I thoght there was something wrong with my hand (arthritis?  muscle weakness or cramping?) because my writing now resembles chicken scratch and I used to have 

really nice Palmer method script.  People often complimented me on my handwriting.

For years I worked in a retail flower shop and we had to take orders over the phone by hand.  (This was the stone age.)  At holidays we would get hundreds of orders phoned in by customers and other florists (FTD etc...)  Speed was necessary and after years of the

"quick scribble" I think I started to lose my penmanship.

Now that I am in my "incredibly late thirties" (by thirty!) I am sure it is a touch of arthritis that has made my handwriting look like some kind of coded messaging.  I sign my rent checks and the (very) occasional Christmas or Birthday card, but other than that I tend to print.  I now communicate a lot via text or email.    

John Hancock was 39 when he signed the Declaration of Independence.  If that had happened 30 years later we probably wouldn't know anything about him.

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@781Florist I often wondered about him, and wondered if maybe he had an eyesight problem. Either that, or maybe he was intentionally displaying, [somehow arrogantly] that he was gung-ho concerning America's Independence!

[candys mine]

My sadness is not that youngsters won't be able to write cursive.  My sadness is that they won't be able to READ it.  SO much history is within Letters.  People took the time to compose their thoughts and write them down.  Soon Script will be relegated to schollars and the ignored elderly,  then the personal link with the past will be lost.  No history, no bond, to ones own relatives or ancestors. 

CONNECTION LOST.............

[Sooner]

I started working on my terrible writing in the 9th grade, and came out with my own "slant" and style.  I was into art and photography and style is always important to me and I collect and use fountain pens.

I've taken art classes occasionally and quite a bit of calligraphy, so writing is important to me.  And I have a unique signature that has changed little since my 20's.  

To me writing is a unique feature and face to the world for each of us--good or bad.  It has been a big part of my identity.  More than makeup--if that explains!  

[Patriot3]

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@Shanus wrote:

I'm old fashioned about sending real b'day cards, etc. instead of texts or sites that send the flowery ones and you just type in your good wishes.

Lately, I've noticed I can barely read my writing. I never "write" anything anymore.

Has anyone else seen their handwriting change since email, texts are more the norm?

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@Shanus  Yes, I used to have beautiful handwriting......until essential tremors took over.  I love to write and now it's really a chore.  I hate it that I have lost my  penmanship.

With texts, I have to use the talking route.