Once upon a time, writing in longhand, “putting pen to paper,” was commonplace and done daily to those who wished to do so. Writing a letter to friends and loved ones was time-consuming, but it was a more personal way showing that more care was taken as opposed to pounding on a keyboard.
Longhand has been shown to enable people to express their emotions, focus on their feelings and come to terms with their feelings. Something is lost when one doesn’t pick up the pen to write a letter. Longhand can facilitate better self-expression, and allows the writer to spell correctly without the aid of the correction key on the keyboard.
There are too many toxic online communications, which is one of the causes for the uncalled abuse and nastiness in online interaction.
Longhand is unique to each person, making it unique for the writer to appreciate it. With more handwriting communications there would be a possibility that one could pause and think, and take their time, which would be helpful in treating themselves and others with more respect and care.
I originally wrote this letter to the editor in longhand, and it was most gratifying. I didn’t use the word correction key when I misspelled a word. Instead, I took the time for the correct spelling on my trusty Franklin Dictionary and Thesaurus.
Again, most gratifying.
Lois Eisenberg, Valencia
