A few years ago, while camping with family and sitting around the fire, my nephew confessed that he didn’t know how to write his signature. I was aghast.
“What do you mean?” I asked, unable to believe what I had just heard.
“I never learned to write in cursive,” he admitted.
Since then, I’ve come across articles about this very phenomenon—how children today are no longer required to learn cursive writing. Similarly, a professional I know once failed his licensing exam—not because he lacked knowledge, but because the test required handwritten answers. It took him forever to complete within the allotted time, and his so-called handwriting was so illegible it couldn’t be graded. He had, for years, dictated everything into his device.
That got me thinking. When I was seven years old, I learned to use a calligraphy brush to practice Chinese characters. After regular school let out, I had to attend Chinese school, where calligraphy was part of the lessons. Though I didn’t continue, I can still hold the brush well enough to produce a few simple characters—like “little,” “girl,” “sky,” and my numbers in Chinese.
It reminded me of the skill involved in using a fountain pen or painting with a brush—pressing down for heavy strokes, lifting lightly for delicate flicks at the tips.
Since the art of calligraphy, shufa, and brushwork isn’t lost, cursive should be included as part of this craft. It takes talent to pick up a pen and elegantly write out a greeting or an invitation.
Sure, we have fonts that mimic handwriting, but like so many conveniences in life today, nothing beats the handmade—handmade scarves, homemade pies, candles, and pots of jam, all lovingly prepared from scratch.
In conclusion, I believe artists can add another skill to their repertoire: the art of cursive.
If you’re like me, I could watch this again and again. It’s so soothing. credit: from MaK World