PC VS PEN

Computers continue their dreadful march, rendering handwritten texts obsolete. Keyboards push out pen and paper. More and more people give up handwriting preferring typing. Many admit that sometimes when they do have to take up the heavily dusted pen, they have to summon the powers of memory to remember how to scribble down a few lines. Handwritten letters and postcards are fast becoming museum exhibits, for even little children sooner master a laptop than a copybook on handwriting.

Anna Nesterova receives heaps of letters from all over the world without having ever even seen her pen friends. All that she knows about them is their name, address, and handwriting idiosyncrasies. However, she writes back to every single correspondent, such are the rules of Postcrossing, an international postcard swap movement, whereof she is a two-year member. She has signed, stamped, and sent over a thousand postcards, simultaneously gathering an impressive collection of those received within the period. Anya admits every single postcard is very dear to her heart, for it is written and signed by hand.

«There a special aesthetical aspect to writing something by hand, putting a stamp on it. It is far more delightful and exciting. As if you are sending a piece of your heart. Any feedback is also exhilarating,» she says.

Not many are those who, like Anya, continue to stick to old-school letter exchange. Scientists believe on average an adult person writes once in forty-five days, typing away at these gaping intervals. Children are also growing more reluctant to pick up a pen. Teachers complain handwriting is not popular with the next generation.

«Computerization from the first grade decreases the pupils» general performance in class as far as handwriting and copying drills are concerned. It is hard to make them write out an element self-consciously and diligently. Why? Because they think since they’ve learnt how to move their video game protagonist — right, left, up, down — they are on top of things," Maria Glazkova, an elementary school teacher.

What we see in the copybooks are those hideous chicken tracks, those bold and careless scrawls, which are an indication of a lack of self-confidence, a sense of insecurity, psychologists believe. They can read anybody’s character like a book by the person’s handwriting.

«We can always distinguish a romantic from a skeptic. Those with a humanitarian penchant develop a clear, intelligible, well-rounded handwriting. Whereas techies and analytically and logically minded people have a simpler, sketchier and more angled hand,» Larisa Dryvgal, DSc (psychology), a graphology expert, comments.

Detailed caps and elegant lowercase letters weaving a flowing pattern more akin to Arabic ligature — such was Alexander Pushkin’s handwriting. However, the words in the great poet’s rough copies are almost indecipherable: they blend into a single liquid chain. Textual critics who pore over Pushkin’s manuscripts suppose that the reason for it was the genius’s extraordinary mind with a high idea generation rate who considered it essential to grasp and put down every thought that should present itself.

«He used to put down everything that crossed his mind; it’s more like a revelation. Those revelations like a flash of a lightning were to be transcribed immediately,» Nina Petrova, Curator of the National Pushkin Museum’s exposition, explains.

In the times of Pushkin, calligraphic skills were indispensible for an educated person. Children were instructed how to wield goose quill and inkpot from early childhood. Those whose handwriting was below standard were banished from diplomatic institutions, for example.

Today the art of beautiful handwriting is more of a hobby.

«I feel I need to be able to put my thoughts to paper in a beautiful way. In my opinion, a beautiful handwriting is a reflection of one’s inner beauty. When you get down to it and persevere in the training, you feel your consciousness becomes more and more structured,» Aleksei Tunkin, one of the students, admits.

Calligraphers ascertain writing and meditation have much in common. When you slowly depict those elegant lines and curves, you sink into a light trance, which has a beneficial effect on our brain. Moreover, the more you write, the smarter you become. Handwriting as a practice is essential, for even the ultra-modern gadgets can run out of power or collapse, and then the good old pen and paper come to the rescue.