When is the last time you wrote someone a proper handwritten letter? Do you even have writing paper in your house? Many of us can go a whole week without lifting a pen!

The handwritten note has been out of fashion for a long time, eclipsed by the modern channels of texting and tweeting, emails and emoticons. The art of handwriting however is not entirely dead…

The working world is so more efficient since the advent of the keyboard. Authors can finish a book faster than their fingers could ever write. Predictive text helps us all to spell and those whose handwriting is illegible are delighted to hide behind uniform fonts. We can keep up with all our friends on Facebook wishing happy birthday without the hassle of sending a card, and can share special thoughts and emotions at the click of a finger.

But there is so much more power in the handwritten word and all the more for its paucity in modern life. It isn’t so much what a letter or card says necessarily, but the time and thought taken to write it. If someone receives a beautifully written note they will remember how it made them feel in the way an email could never match.

Companies are beginning to harness this power in the business world, sending a thoughtful note with a customer order, a handwritten thank you for someones time in a meeting, can make them feel valued. Taking the time to write conveys there is someone who is accountable and cares about their customers. The art of handwriting is coming back in style and it can make all the difference in standing out from the competition.

There have always been examples of where only handwriting will do… a signature on a contract cannot be broken, and the right signature on a painting can make it priceless. The Queen’s menus, handwritten in French every day, could not be any other way and the tradition of writing the very best moments of the fox hunt in red ink to indicate (red-letter) day, should never be lost. How about the bitter sweetness of finding that last shakily written birthday card your grandmother wrote to you? The tender feelings that familiar trembling hand evokes.

The art of handwriting itself stimulates the brain more than typing because the cognitive skills required are more complex.

When we were young we notice people’s handwriting and compare it to our own. The way we write is thought to speak reams about us. Graphologists, (handwriting analysts), believe the way we space or connect our letters, or sign our names can reveal our energy levels, state of health and weather we are outgoing or reserved. Celebrities are thought to have a tendency towards large handwriting which says you are fun and like to be the centre of a party, rounded letters says you are creative and artistic. Narrow spacing says you can’t bear to be alone whilst wide spacing shows you enjoy your freedom. Slanting to the right says you are thought to be friendly and sociable, whilst slanting to the left indicates a self-centredness, or no slant at all is thought to mean a more balanced demeanour. Burt Baguette America’s #1 handwriting expert has written books on how to find a fulfilling & loving relationship through handwriting analysis.

Or is our writing just to do with the shapes of our fingers and hands? Handwriting could be brain writing how wired you feel could come out through your writing instrument!

Handwriting is something increasingly examined as part of the business recruitment process and used to determine wether a person will fit in with the company culture. The thought process is that a CV can be embellished but after a few lines of writing it is very hard for a person to keep up a pretence about themselves, particularly if they are writing about something they feel passionately about, so you can begin to build a picture of a person behind the application.

Wether you loop you ‘I”s or cross your ‘T’s’ high or low is all said to speak volumes about you. but in this time of texts, emails and busy schedules, perhaps the most important thing about your handwriting is that you keep using it. Surprise someone, cut through all the usual communications with some handwritten love and let handwriting have the last word.

Love your handwriting, love your hands

Karen J Gerrard SEAMS x