crane’s

These days most of our “writing” is done digitally either on a keyboard in front of a computer, or on the small touchscreens of our smartphones. Even when we need to take down a quick note or memo, we simply do it with whatever we can muster up within our immediate vicinity, and it could be anything from a Pilot fine liner to a Bic ball point. But what happened to actual “hand writing”? What happened to the kind of writing that one took time to form the shape of the letters and was written using a fine writing instrument like a Montblanc coming in contact with good quality paper like that of Crane’s? I’m pretty sure it still exists. All the journal writers, calligraphists, and people who still prefer planning their lives using an agenda like a Filofax are testaments to that. All of these activities are performed not as necessities, but rather by choice, and they’re are done without the care of consumption of time, expenditure of energy, or inefficiency. They’re done because the person doing it gets a true sense of enjoyment when doing it. The preparation of the act, whether it’s the twisting off of a cap and the posting of it, to the filling of ink into a fountain pen, to the fluid lines created by your penmanship, and even the sight of ink drying before your eyes seconds after you’ve laid down your thoughts and effectively setting them “in stone” can bring great satisfaction and pleasure to a writer. So even though no one actually hand writes anything anymore, good penmanship and the desire to write can be considered more of a hobby these days. It’s a hobby enjoyed by true connoisseurs and enthusiasts; an activity performed with a passion and a respect for something truly old world and traditional.