Sometimes (OK, most of the times) I write for the simple sensory pleasure of doing so. I don’t write that much for practical purposes either. I work almost exclusively on computers. But in my down time I write for the fun of it. Sometimes random thoughts, sometimes things that happened recently to me. Sometimes just quotes from my favorite movies or books. Just writing mindlessly for a few minutes resets my mood and acts as a nice break from screens.
The human connection with writing, especially cursive (in my opinion) is pretty shockingly ignored by society. Writing does things to your brain that typing or doing other things just dont do. If you look at a pen and paper and only see an outdated method for recording information you aren’t understanding what fundamentally the technology of pen and paper is. It is a thinking tool, an emotional processing tool (how is the act of writing down how we feel able to help us process emotions so much? It is like magic sometimes) and a creative turbocharger. Handwriting information out also allows you to zone in and out of focusing, you can transition to doodling organically from straight information recording which allows the brain way more flexibility than almost any other information recording technology. Need to just focus on listening? Doodle. Need to abruptly transition to 100% wrote information recording? Go back to writing. Nothing else can do that.
The only thing that makes a serious case for replacing pen and paper are e-ink tablets with styluses like the supernote or boox tablets. Still the sublime feeling of a nice pen on nice paper (oooofff you ever felt nice paper like mnemosyne or tomoe river? mmmmmm) is wonderful. So many people treat a nice pen and paper like it is a silly outdated technology when it is one of life’s cheapest luxuries.
I work almost exclusively on computers. But in my down time I write for the fun of it. Sometimes random thoughts, sometimes things that happened recently to me. Sometimes just quotes from my favorite movies or books. Just writing mindlessly for a few minutes resets my mood and acts as a nice break from screens.
Yeah, what is happening in your brain when you write in spontaneous, creative, and ultimately undefined ways is extremely complex and powerful. I am not a neuroscientist, but all you have to do is try it yourself and be mindful of how writing is impacting your mental state and flow of thoughts to realize something very important is happening even if you can’t define it.
Sometimes (OK, most of the times) I write for the simple sensory pleasure of doing so. I don’t write that much for practical purposes either. I work almost exclusively on computers. But in my down time I write for the fun of it. Sometimes random thoughts, sometimes things that happened recently to me. Sometimes just quotes from my favorite movies or books. Just writing mindlessly for a few minutes resets my mood and acts as a nice break from screens.
The human connection with writing, especially cursive (in my opinion) is pretty shockingly ignored by society. Writing does things to your brain that typing or doing other things just dont do. If you look at a pen and paper and only see an outdated method for recording information you aren’t understanding what fundamentally the technology of pen and paper is. It is a thinking tool, an emotional processing tool (how is the act of writing down how we feel able to help us process emotions so much? It is like magic sometimes) and a creative turbocharger. Handwriting information out also allows you to zone in and out of focusing, you can transition to doodling organically from straight information recording which allows the brain way more flexibility than almost any other information recording technology. Need to just focus on listening? Doodle. Need to abruptly transition to 100% wrote information recording? Go back to writing. Nothing else can do that.
The only thing that makes a serious case for replacing pen and paper are e-ink tablets with styluses like the supernote or boox tablets. Still the sublime feeling of a nice pen on nice paper (oooofff you ever felt nice paper like mnemosyne or tomoe river? mmmmmm) is wonderful. So many people treat a nice pen and paper like it is a silly outdated technology when it is one of life’s cheapest luxuries.
Yeah, what is happening in your brain when you write in spontaneous, creative, and ultimately undefined ways is extremely complex and powerful. I am not a neuroscientist, but all you have to do is try it yourself and be mindful of how writing is impacting your mental state and flow of thoughts to realize something very important is happening even if you can’t define it.
It’s a good practice for the peace of mind!