On the Nature of Handwriting

 

Handwriting – one of the most personal assets an individual has. Right from childhood, it’s a much stressed upon factor with our parents and teachers constantly impressing upon us the need for a good, neat script.

But, why all this stress on handwriting?

Does your handwriting really communicate anything about you? Having grown up reading Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, I was always fascinated reading them deduce the most subtle character traits from a person’s handwriting.

Growing up, even I am surprised to see how the handwriting of the people around me matches with their personality.

While a clear flowing hand communicates clarity of thought and expression, a cramped unclear style shows hesitancy and confusion. From the spacing, size, slant, pressure to even the formation of letters, gives away more about you than you believe.

Even though the handwritten world is growing smaller now, with almost all professional work shifting to digital typing, I feel writing by hand remains just as important. A clearer flow of thought goes while writing by hand. I find it almost pious the way our hand moves automatically over paper penning the words in our mind.

The therapeutic effect writing by hand has, sure deserves a special mention to itself. Writing by hand, instantly calms an agitated mind. Penning down those thoughts and emotions that would otherwise have been bottled up is a wonderful way of letting your inner self breathe.

And then, there’s the beauty the handwritten communicates. I, for one, find it one of the most beautiful forms of expression. The feelings handwritten notes and letters communicate are truly the purest and most overwhelming. To think that someone’s hand moved over the paper, with their mind spinning out precisely those words for you is one of the most beautiful feelings. For it is an eternal gift that we present in the form of a handwritten letter. It’s almost like a time capsule. Those words penned out in the individual’s own handwriting, with their own formation of letters. 

Almost like saying, “No matter the time that goes by, no matter the arguments and disagreements and fights we have in between, the moment you open this letter, after any length of time, I’ll be here, as silent and unmoving, presenting my love to you. Always!”