January 23rd is National Handwriting Day
Writing something by hand to most people is not their go-to way of communicating. Sending emails, texts, posts on social media and putting your appointments in your phone is the norm. But once upon a time, we wrote everything by hand. Writing on cave walls in pictures, illuminated manuscripts were an art form now in museums to admire and throughout history people kept personal diaries, letters were exchanged that give us insight to what was taking place and how people felt about what was happening in their lifetime. In this era of instant messaging, computerized communicating, how will we look back at this time to gain an understanding of life in the 21st century? Handwriting classes are no longer a required class in many schools yet our personal signature is required on every important document.
Pencils and paper come from nature, using them connects you to your basic life force. You actually write differently when you write directly onto a computer then when you take pencil to paper. I noticed this many years ago and find I am more authentic when I write out my thoughts. Even when I type those thoughts in a document on a computer … like this newsletter, it comes out much better if I write it out by hand first.
It has been proven that there are psychological benefits to writing by hand.
Did you know that a number of studies have all came to the same conclusion that writing by hand can improve your brain’s memory. For example, researchers compared students who took notes by hand with those who took notes on laptops. What they found was that students using laptops tended to write down what the professor said word for word whereas those taking notes by hand were more likely to analyze the professor’s words for important content and process information better by “reframing it in their own words.”
Another study revealed that parts of the brain associated with learning are more active when people write out their thoughts by hand rather than on a keyboard. At a time where our brains consume so much information every day, writing by hand offers a chance to remember the things that are most important to us.
Probably one of the reasons more people use technology over hand writing is because it’s slower and we are forced to slow down. Everything is instant, especially those who group up with technology and have no experience or awareness about writing things out my hand don’t have a clue to what they’re missing. According to neuroscientist Claudia Aguirre, we write more thoughtfully when we write by hand. That’s because writing by hand forces us to slow down and take more time to pour over thoughts. This is both the beauty and the pain of writing by hand, especially since we are a society of instant gratification.
“Recent neuroscientific research has uncovered a distinct neural pathway that is only activated when we physically draw out our letters,” said Aguirre. “And this pathway, etched deep with practice, is linked to our overall success in learning and memory.” When we type on a keyboard, those same pathways aren’t opened up the same way.
If you write out your thoughts, you are more likely to remember what you wrote down.
I encourage you to including handwriting as part of your writing process. Image, many years from now, your handwritten pages may end up in a museum to document this time in history.
