You hold the mobile phone and move your thumb quickly on the screen, chatting and sending text messages effortlessly; you sit in front of the computer in the office, typing quickly on the keyboard with your fingers, and you don’t have to do it for ten minutes. Get through a business email quickly... Have you ever thought about the last time you put pen to paper and put your hand to writing properly? If you haven’t written for a long time and suddenly pick up a pen, guess what will happen?
Just a few months ago, I went to an interview with a company and there was a two-page paper. The written test needs to be completed using traditional written answer methods. It was only after I picked up the pen to do the questions that I discovered that I hadn’t held a pen to write for a long time. I couldn’t remember how to write some simple words, and my handwriting speed was super slow beyond my imagination. My wrists were tired even after writing a few rows of words. No, the written words are also super ugly, which I didn't expect.
I remember when I was a child, we would have special calligraphy lessons when we were in school. In Chinese class, the teacher would also train us to write cleanly and neatly in our homework books. At the beginning, I wrote very slowly, but very seriously. Sometimes the teacher would assign homework to practice calligraphy. At that time, everyone would complete it carefully as required when they got home. Students exchange homework books and look through other students’ homework books. If there is something written in a more beautiful font, I will look at it more. If there is something written in a more beautiful font, I will look at it a few more times and even imitate those beautiful fonts. . I am very envious of those classmates who can write better than myself.
Based on my personal experience, I found that beautiful handwriting is related to several factors. The first and most important thing is of course to practice more. Secondly, I think it has something to do with the pen used. If it is a pen with a suitable weight and thickness, it will also help to write beautiful handwriting. Third, it also has something to do with the paper used. Some papers are smoother and smoother, which can also help you find the feeling of writing.
When I was a child, I got a little pocket money and received lucky money. My favorite thing to visit was a stationery store. I liked to collect all kinds of beautiful and useful pens, including mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens and fountain pens. Sometimes at school, during recess, I like to see what nice-looking and useful pens are in other students’ pencil boxes, and then I go to my classmates to borrow them or exchange them for a few days. Another thing that left a deep impression on me was that my parents were working in school at that time, and they would often bring home various pens. Dad, in particular, always brought back many beautiful and useful fountain pens and ballpoint pens. , he leaves it to us if he doesn’t use it himself.
When I was in primary school, I had a lot of extracurricular time, and my mother would assign some other extracurricular exercises. I still remember that there was a period of extracurricular practice where I used A4-sized paper to copy a page of an idiom dictionary every day. At that time, I was very unhappy. When I was young, I felt that the A4 paper looked very big, and it would take a long time to copy a full page. I don’t remember how long I copied it later, but I don’t know why this thing left a deep memory in me. That idiom dictionary is still on my bookshelf, and it reminds me every time I see it. The time when I was copying dictionaries. Maybe I didn't put much effort into copying it back then, but now every time I read that dictionary, I feel like I've seen those idioms before. I think the benefits I gained from that period of copying should be subtle. Most of the idioms I can quote in subsequent daily communications should have been learned during that period. Bar. Later, my handwriting also improved and looked much better.
Then came the age of computers and the Internet, and the impact of these two things on our lives is growing at an ever-accelerating pace. Chatting and writing emails online. Many people who have never learned typing on a computer. Since they use computers and the Internet every day, their typing proficiency has accelerated due to self-taught skills. Many people can type even if they don’t know fingering. Become proficient in it quickly and without looking at the keyboard. Opportunities to write with a pen have become increasingly rare. Basically the only pens you need to use are to sign and fill in some simple forms. Nowadays, filling out many forms can be completed online. When you need to pick up a pen to write, it is almost difficult to find other than a signature.
Today, will you go to a stationery store to carefully look for a beautiful and easy-to-write pen? Will I sit at my desk and quietly hold a pen and practice calligraphy seriously?
It wasn’t until one day when I suddenly needed to use a pen to write, such as during the written test of the interview that day, that I was surprised to find that my handwriting My handwriting has deteriorated a lot, and my speed has also become very slow. The speed of handwriting is no longer as fast as the speed of typing on my keyboard or mobile phone! At that time, I actually wished there was a keyboard connected to the test paper so that I could quickly print the answers!
It has been a while since this interview, and I can no longer remember many of the questions asked during the interview, but the issue of writing too slowly when answering questions came back to me. There is an urge to pick up a pen and copy an idiom dictionary, which is still in my mind and is ready to move. But in today's era where all communication is through computers, mobile phones and smartphones, handwriting stenographers are no longer needed, and the ability to write well seems to be of little use. The great calligraphers who were admired in the past seem to have no practical use today in the computer network era. The fun that people could only experience in practicing calligraphy and handwriting letters in the past is now hard to find.
Thinking of this, I don’t know whether it is the progress or regression of human civilization?