I have a new pen pal! So excited! Hand written letters are definitely one of my top 5 favorite things. And who does not love to get mail?! Handwritten correspondence just seems so much more personal than an email or text message. Please don't get me wrong. I use them both, and social media, all the time.
This is not about how technology has ruined our lives and our ability to communicate. In fact I think it has helped our ability to communicate. Yes we take short cuts in grammar and spelling. (And some of us out there think words like "bae" and "bruh" are real words. Pet peeve moment, pardon me.) But is that really something new? I say no. It is not. Every generation has had its slang. Every generation has had its catch phrases.
But through it all there has always been a certain level of civility in taking the time to hand write a letter in your best penmanship. No this is not something that schools take the time to teach anymore, but nevertheless it is still important. In fact I think it is more important than ever. With the lack of ability to write clearly and legibly people will start to take notice of those who do possess this particular skill. It will become one more way to stand out in a crowd when you are competing for a position within a company that 500 others are also applying for at the same time. And if you choose the entrepreneurial route, the ability to communicate with your clients in any form is imperative.
If I still have not convinced you that it is worth your time to learn how to write a letter (formal, informal, business), then consider this: writing has not always been a skill available to the masses. Look back to the Dark Ages. The masses were uneducated at best. The clergy and a handful of nobles were the only ones who knew how to read and write. And even then most religious ceremonies were conducted in latin, which even fewer people knew. Ladies, we all know there was a time when we were not allowed to sign our names to a loan. It had to be in the husband's name. Entire races were enslaved and forbidden to learn to read and write so they could be subjugated more easily. African slaves risked their lives by learning to read and write. Yet they still did. This simple skill meant so much to them that they were willing to risk their lives to learn it. Now we are not even taking the time to learn to sign our own name properly! It is seen as a useless skill not worth the time to teach! For me this is unconscionable! In my humble opinion it is a step backward. It is a step toward sanctioned, willful ignorance.
Yes, it is possible that some of you will read this and think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. And maybe I am. But for me the lack of penmanship is more than schools not teaching it. It is an indicator that our society has lost some of its desire to think for itself. It is an indicator that more and more the masses are letting themselves be led around by the nose by those we have elected. If the simple act of writing a letter is not taught, then the act of thoughtfully considering what you need to say is not taught. What's next? Ceasing to teach reading? After all, we have audio books, the radio, the TV, why read?
This is not about how technology has ruined our lives and our ability to communicate. In fact I think it has helped our ability to communicate. Yes we take short cuts in grammar and spelling. (And some of us out there think words like "bae" and "bruh" are real words. Pet peeve moment, pardon me.) But is that really something new? I say no. It is not. Every generation has had its slang. Every generation has had its catch phrases.
But through it all there has always been a certain level of civility in taking the time to hand write a letter in your best penmanship. No this is not something that schools take the time to teach anymore, but nevertheless it is still important. In fact I think it is more important than ever. With the lack of ability to write clearly and legibly people will start to take notice of those who do possess this particular skill. It will become one more way to stand out in a crowd when you are competing for a position within a company that 500 others are also applying for at the same time. And if you choose the entrepreneurial route, the ability to communicate with your clients in any form is imperative.
If I still have not convinced you that it is worth your time to learn how to write a letter (formal, informal, business), then consider this: writing has not always been a skill available to the masses. Look back to the Dark Ages. The masses were uneducated at best. The clergy and a handful of nobles were the only ones who knew how to read and write. And even then most religious ceremonies were conducted in latin, which even fewer people knew. Ladies, we all know there was a time when we were not allowed to sign our names to a loan. It had to be in the husband's name. Entire races were enslaved and forbidden to learn to read and write so they could be subjugated more easily. African slaves risked their lives by learning to read and write. Yet they still did. This simple skill meant so much to them that they were willing to risk their lives to learn it. Now we are not even taking the time to learn to sign our own name properly! It is seen as a useless skill not worth the time to teach! For me this is unconscionable! In my humble opinion it is a step backward. It is a step toward sanctioned, willful ignorance.
Yes, it is possible that some of you will read this and think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. And maybe I am. But for me the lack of penmanship is more than schools not teaching it. It is an indicator that our society has lost some of its desire to think for itself. It is an indicator that more and more the masses are letting themselves be led around by the nose by those we have elected. If the simple act of writing a letter is not taught, then the act of thoughtfully considering what you need to say is not taught. What's next? Ceasing to teach reading? After all, we have audio books, the radio, the TV, why read?