Do you write in cursive? Block? Keyboard only? I use all three at different times for different jobs. Obviously, now, I am using the keyboard exclusively. I try to use block writing things to my kids because they didn't get enough training in cursive which I think is sad. I write in cursive in my journals and sappier notes to others because writing in cursive feels more like thoughts that are originating more deeply within my being. That concept might seem too deep for people who only use a keyboard and don't remember what it feels to hold a writing utensil in their hand since the crayon they last used in the second grade.
I took a photo of a page out of my gratitude journal to send to online friends so they could see the structure of the journal and how I use it to program my brain for personal growth. (We were comparing notes on personal growth.) Right away, my friends pointed out how they loved my cursive writing. They correctly called it a lost art. It is a lost art. It is a form of art. Losing it makes me sad.
All people have the potential to be artists in some fashion or another. Most don't know or don't believe that to be true. Fostering art helps foster other areas of life. Completing an art project gives a person a boost of dopamine, the feel good hormone, thereby boosting self-confidence and self-esteem. Art stimulates different parts of the brain. Art helps prevent social isolation and deepens connections. It lowers cortisol from stress. The creativity aspect helps promote problem solving skills. And so much more.
This is one of the reasons it makes me sad that so many schools have stopped teaching cursive writing. The flow of letters into each other in a flourishing style helps to connect words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into entire ideas with a way of communicating those ideas. Cursive tickles the neuro pathways spurring growth.
I love writing in cursive. I love how my ideas flow one into another. It aides me in brainstorming story ideas. Heck, in high school, I taught myself calligraphy just for fun. Sometimes, when the page I am looking at is simply too blank for my mind to handle it, I'll practice writing the alphabet in cursive or calligraphy. It helps get the creative juices flowing.
I think we are doing millennials a disservice by no longer teaching cursive. Of course, they are not going to agree. My own kids hate when I suggest that. They feel they have more important things to do with their time than to learn to write with a flourish. But, I think they are missing out on so much subtle beauty in that particular artform and form of communication, that I don't think they are in a position to judge that. That's like saying to someone, "Hey! I just got back from a trip along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon! You should see it before it's too dry to go." And the person response, "Why should I do that? It's just water running through a big hole in the ground. I can see that when I drain the bathtub." The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon versus a draining bathtub? A person who talks like that has no clue to make such a comparison.
Who talks like that? I did. Until I was on a plane to get on a helicopter to ride into the Grand Canyon, put on a boat, road the river a while, and then back out again. It was eye opening! Before that, I didn't see any value in seeing the Grand Canyon. I thought it was just a big hole in the ground.
Cursive writing isn't simply another form of written communication. It stimulates pathways. It is a form of art, a method of self-expression. If practiced long enough, each of us who utilize it stylize it and personalize it ourselves over time.
Is it better than other forms of writing? Nope. I use other forms as well. They serve different functions. Each is important.
If I am the last person on earth writing in cursive, I will hold my head proud! Which reminds me, writing in cursive also promotes healthy posture. Lol!
Cursive is for me the script for love, for fluidity of thoughts, a recipe for a dopamine dinner, and a path for openness and understanding.
There is so much more I could say. I will stop it here.
If you have a comment or question, or a blog idea, shoot me an email at humorinchaos@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
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