This feels almost sacrilegious in this computer age, particularly when my job role specialises in digital tools, but I already spend too much time staring at screens.
It’s slower, yes, but that’s part of the appeal. Slowness
forces you to think, to feel the words as they form. There’s something deeply
satisfying about the physical act of writing by hand. It’s tangible.
Handwriting changes the rhythm of my thoughts, and allow me
time to change and adapt as I go. I pause more. I choose words with care. It’s in
the “now”. Alert and mindful.
And then I have the satisfaction of seeing volumes of journals and notebooks lined
up, filled with my words, my scratchings.
And that’s a joy you don’t get from a hard drive in a machine.
It's not for everyone. When I first
started out, or re-started, my hand ached.
I was using muscles I hadn’t used since High School. But as I wrote more often and for longer
periods, my stamina increased, my writing became more legible, and my hand
ached less and less.
I love it. And once you go back, there’s no going forward again.
