Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Is Cursive a dying Art?

My Mom's amazing cursive writing.
I have heard that school kids are not taught the Art of Cursive writing anymore. I guess that is due in part to the high-tech computer and smartphone age. No need to write anymore, just hit a button and a keyboard pops up. I remember when I was in 1st and 2nd grade, we had the alphabet above the chalkboard. Each letter was in cursive handwriting, both the Capital and lower case letters. I even think we had the printed letters also but I am not certain of this. Some people say you could tell one's personality by examining their handwriting plus you could tell if the writing was a forgery. In the old days cursive was done with such style and grace that no one dared used sloppy writing. Just look at the signers of the Declaration of Independence with their flawlessly immaculate letters and long curly designs at the end of their name. I was always amazed at how well Momio would write. It seemed to her it was just like breathing, it came so naturally. She even got into calligraphy which is writing with india ink with special metal tips you dip in the ink. Momio even painted the bottom of our 2nd floor steps with a brush done in calligraphy style. She also embroidered pillow cases with cursive writing. It seems a lot of new high-tech things have made it easier but it has also taken the beauty and style out of the way it was originally done. At least we can preserve cursing writing in museums.
Momio's cursive writing on our home's name: "Lochaven"