I write by hand quite often.
Mostly I do so because I enjoy it. 


















I have numerous hand-written notebooks for many different purposes. Most of these are written small with better letter formations than what you see above, (which is meant to be a storyboard for a more polished presentation) These hand-written books are not merely logs about how much gas mileage I'm using or revisits to the many YouTube videos I've watched that I'd like to remember to talk with someone about later.

Often, the first thing I do when I get a new little blank book is to put in page numbers, leaving a few pages at the front for a "Table of Contents." Having the book pre-organized in this way allows me to add (random fashion, usually) to the contents of the book - Then I can notate in the front what page and what the subject was I wrote - so I can find it easier later on.

Currently, I'm adding to a handwritten book about interesting finds and links. Yes, sometimes I do really hand-write the links and titles along with explanations about what they are - so if these videos become become taken off of YouTube, I can often find them later on another platform. Sometimes I paste in pictures and other relevant information in case the links get taken away entirely. 

I have other books of lists and processes done with thinking skills. Some of these hand-written books I've made are about my own individuation - such as how I come across to strangers at first impression so I can choose how to use common misunderstandings that strangers assume about me. 

I have made various sorts of "Bucket Lists" for various reasons and purposes, (such as movies and books I might want to check out - or books I get from the library that I might want to check out again.) 

Some of these hand-written books of mine are written out in multi-colored pens, so the ideas are classified with color coding. 

I make lists of people I met incidentally and why I connected with them. I have lists of people I met online and how they came to mean something to me. I have lists of people I ran into on Periscope.tv and what I enjoyed about them, with their user names and how to get in touch later through other platforms.

I made lists of figures of speech, lists of interesting scrabble words and what they mean, collections of strange facts about plants or fruit or places. I made lists about where to find things I might want to locate that I've "hidden in a good spot" from myself.

Since I was a teenager, I have volumes of pretty much all of my "major decisions" that mostly contain the questions I asked myself when I was thinking about what to do next with my life. Strange how these questions are often cyclical or perennial. How often these questions get exactly the same answers (using the I Ching) is even more of a coincidence, especially when these questions are duplicated DECADES apart!

I have handwritten books of collected study notes I've been inspired to write while I read library books or books I borrowed from other people that I had to give back. I found it was a way to put into practice tips and other other good ideas that I wanted to really LEARN that were embedded within the contents of the books. 

I read fast, so often I'll read a book at my "regular fast" speed, then go back and annotate and study it the second time through. I have outlines of books that I thought had information for me that were so important that they deserved to be annotated. I wanted to be able to use the book's contents for a tool in the course of my life - books on Dialogue skills, on negotiation skills, on communication skills.  For that purpose, they needed outlining, practice and revisiting.

I have made handwritten books of song lyrics; books that annotate what's inside of long sound files when I recorded practice sessions where song lyrics first happen accidentally from complete inspiration. I have notes about how to make clay ocarinas by hand from scratch that an old roommate used to do who told me step-by-step exactly how.

I have books of my own poetry, (which doesn't happen that often! But some of those poetic books are even illustrated.) I have books of dreams that lingered after waking, (but those are pretty sloppy in appearance.)

I wrote out in various collected little books project outlines I thought I might want to do but haven't gotten around to doing yet - just in case I do want to do them sometimes in the future. I have lists of items I might want to make out of clay that I put thought into designing in original ways if I ever get the access to a kiln...the same involving the use of a 3D printer. (These mostly replacement pieces of plastic that I can't get any other way.)

I have lists of things to buy if I ever get enough money for them; (currently on that list is an electric fold-up bike.) I have lists of places I'd like to donate to if I ever have so much money that I might wonder what to do with it. 

I have hand-written books like screen-writing for a video series presentation(s) about concepts related to Alexander Technique. (just am working on a many chapter one on "self-judgment.")  I type these promising series in words to the computer later and correct for "time of arrival" and do the other editing challenges that make them easier to understand, since people cannot read my mind. Using the computer, I complete these ideas; but I often use handwriting to extend them first in situations where I don't have a computer or keyboard so I can work on them at the moment I get the ideas and inspirations for how to express them.

I have handwritten notes in many books about things I'm learning, such as expressions in Spanish and juicy words to learn. I have hand written books with notes from counseling sessions, random classes, (such as the one I just did on the differences between wills & "living trusts," even though I don't have enough to "fund" a trust.)

I collect strange health facts perhaps related to someone I know who needs help on the subject. I have hand-written notes from lectures I attended on odd subjects such as Neuroscience experiments or countries I've never heard of previously, just in case I might want to go there someday. 

Sometimes it's just faster to use a pencil to illustrate what you're designing rather than trying to use words to describe shapes, relationships, colors, relative volumes, what seemed funny or ironic to me...

Plus, I have drawing books of things, images that I just wanted to hang out and draw because they happened to be there. Many of those are of music performers on stage,  because performers don't object to being looked at long enough to draw them...as being stared at by an artist tends to make strangers feel uncomfortable. 

Yes, I write by hand quite often. If writing by hand makes you smarter...I'M A GENIUS by now!!
Posted by
2

View comments

  1. Definitely. writing is important. The physical act - translating thoughts to words to writing - changes the relationship of the very concepts to you that is important and not understood. But whether it makes one smarter or not is open to debate. To be sure, people are not "dumber" because of the present computer age. They have a different relationship and understanding to their words.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Hi Warren, thanks for your comment!
      For me, typing instead of handwriting made a significant difference in my ability to bring out ideas and record them as fast as they emerged. Once I could type as fast as I could speak, (although I'm sort of a slow-paced talker,) I could merely pretend I was talking to someone I knew and type it - my ideas flowed easier. Transcribing my thinking at my own talking rate allowed me to not have to slow down my sentences to the rate they needed to go to be hand-written. But the results of typing had another effect. I found out that who I decided to talk to made a difference. Also, I mixed up my prepositions, as if the different phrases and dependent clauses I used were interchangeable. Without going over what I'd typed again and again to read it out loud to myself and clarify what I really wanted to say, I got misunderstood. So I had to learn to switch back and forth from "creator" to "editor" without being stuck in either one. This turned out to be a skill that needed practice.
      Then I wondered if the artificial slowing of the words of a sentence was a sort of meditation in handwriting - to stall and shape the construction of the sentence. Maybe that ability - to shape and discipline how you express yourself - maybe that is supposed to be the essence of 'creativity?'

      Delete

I've been watching a 24 year old guy on YouTube who's interviewing older people he meets randomly and asks them how old they are and other general questions about what it's like to be the age they are.

I thought I might answer some of these here, now that I'm older myself.

If I answered the first question about my age, I don't think my answer would be useful to many people because of the unique choices I've made about how I wanted to live my life. One of the best things has been that I've avoided getting addicted to "adult" type pastimes. I've only had to deal with getting paunchier from not knowing how to deal with what might be unique dietary issues. You cannot imagine how much respect over the years I've received from those who got to know me - all from not having adopted vices.

This is this phenomena that my best friend refers to as "Beer Thinking."  But I imagine it's better explained with the term, "Productive Procrastination." 

For instance, I bought these "desert boots" to walk on this road pictured above when it's raining and muddy. These boots need to be sprayed with some Rustoleum concoction that seals the leather so rain and mud roll off of it. I haven't done it yet, because it needs to be pre-sealed before the final treatment.

I write by hand quite often.

Mostly I do so because I enjoy it.
2

WOOFer Warnings

There are some worldwide hospitality membership clubs that seem to work to forge some interesting scenes. But watch out for the model of accepting temporary work using the "WOOFer" model!

WOOF stands for "Workers On Organic Farms". It evolved because farmers couldn't pay the prevailing wage to keep its workers there to do the farm work required.

Why doesn't "no" mean "no" when a guy propositions a gal?

Guys don't understand what's going on when a woman is afraid of a man who seems to has the potential to get angry at a woman for rejecting him personally.

Coming home from college in the mid 1970s, I was riding in the back of the bus at night when I heard a man going through the pockets of a lone sleeping child with a knife, ripping the pockets of the kid's pack and coat. Rather loudly, (which could be explained because of the sound of the bus) I started talking about anything to distract the thief.

Suddenly, three very large black men moved in behind me, next to and in front of me in the empty seats that were available.

Logic says, "the only time another way is necessary to seek out is when current ways are blocked." I know ways to be more creative. Creative ways are "unexploited alternatives," usually in addition to "tradition." So a creative person looks for alternatives, even when there already exists serviceable answers.

I found that formally studying thinking skills has been the most useful to me in developing the ability to communicate my creative abilities...and to invite them to happen with others.

The weirdest thing about getting older is...your peer group starts dying. Relationships that have spanned decades suddenly vanish.

There's a strange routine that happens when people die...and it seems really tragic to me. People recognize how someone dying deserves attention. Every culture offers some recognition of those who are left behind. People feel a responsibility to show up to demonstrate their support...then they leave. It's as if it was a social visit. But it wasn't.

Just so I can attach this to an email...

I have quite a few friends who are passionate and feel responsible to become activists. I am thankful that questions opened by serious issues have inspired involvement and activism on a whole new level.

But really, I hate politics. It's an arena where cultural cliche`and manipulation is at its worst. I do not listen to the news on purpose, because of the sensationalism. I regularly impose a "news-fast" state for myself, mostly through music listening - often music without words.
Blog Archive
Blog Archive
Categories
Categories
Links
Links
Voicebox
Voicebox
Voicebox
About Me
About Me
Loading