Cursive and Calligraphy

Does anyone write in cursive anymore? I personally knew one person other than myself who does on an occasional basis. It is perhaps fact that word processing has made cursive writing obsolete, and one rarely finds regular use by today's youth, save in romantic prose or private musings.

From childhood to the end of middle school, I used cursive for any handwritten works, regardless of their nature. Eventually, when cursive proved inpractical for class notes (lectures fly fast), I abandoned cursive for normal handwriting. Some habits of cursive writing still remain to this day, notably the tendency to tilt my paper at a 15- to 25-degree angle while writing. Nevertheless, the speed and universality of normal handwriting made cursive all but obscure.

In practicing this seemingly endangered style, however, therein lies a therapeutic assuagement in commanding such a style. Cursive requires patience, concentration, and control, and somehow, whatever content appears in this style seem poetic and mind-pleasing, no matter the content tone or syntax. At least, that is how I view cursive writing. It helped me control my private thoughts so as not to leave a verbose bigoted tirade in my notebook.

With word processing, the patience and control diminishes. One needs not patience to craft words, instead devoting it to ideas. Control goes not to the physicality of the pen/cil shaft, but rather to staccato fingertip work on the keyboard. Speed and convenience rises in priority, perhaps alongside form and idea. Style obtains the ability to assume other styles (more commonly known as "fonts"), rather than the typer/writer's own style.

But it seems that the sentimental value of cursive writing has not waned. It has merely been ignored or undiscovered. English majors, writers, poets, and other literature frequenters may use cursive on a regular basis, but if the majority uses it, would it make a difference to social psyche? Would it broaden attention spans and patience? Or would it be merely an inconvenience?

My concern is not to preach cursive writing for everyday use. Rather, it should be used for interpersonal and/or intimate work. Notes, letters, postcards - anything to be shared between close friends and lovers, is ground for the attempt at creating an art within a love letter or sweet note. Admittedly, I never wrote in cursive for my letters to a friend, but given the chance, I would.

Then there's the art of calligraphy. More prominent in Asian cultures, it is as much an art form as other visual arts. But as far as I know, only a minority practice the English version in America. I am well aware of the setup hassle of calligraphy: there is the fountain pen and ink bottle, or a refillable pen for modernity's sake. For Chinese calligraphy, there is the brush, ink (or inkstick and water, for a more old-fashioned feel), inkstone, special paper, a cleaning cloth, and something underneath the paper to catch bleed-throughs. The latter calligraphy especially hogs space; my typical setup would occupy half of my dinner table. But for the price of space, the experience of complete control and patience adds much to calligraphy's aesthetic value...

In short, this post is really just my rant for more people to practice cursive and calligraphy. You don't see too much of those two in modern writings.