The Gentle Art of Writing

Polyvore Art, Laurel Dismukes 2015

I read an article in Victoria Magazine's latest issue about a woman who writes letters as a hobby.  Her recipients may be a family member or a friend, but she also writes to people that she doesn't even know.  The article itself was written in Victoria's serene style, with soft photos and ambient text.  It made me want to settle in with a calligraphy pen, some fine linen paper and a cup of coffee.

I don't write letters. We have a whole bundle of letters that my husband's father wrote to his Mom during the war, and when I read them, it was touching. Letter writing is personal, unselfish. I'm certainly a by-product from that generation, but I must not have gotten the "communication" gene. (I don't remember my Mom writing either.) I text, I blog...I write with a keyboard.  I dream of writing a book. But the whole picture of this woman sitting by her warm fireplace surrounded by her writing tools and pretty papers was mildly appealing. 

I should write more. It sounds calming...and it is. I have at least 4 calligraphy pens in various states of disrepair and dried-up inkwells.  I lost my pretty Cross pen with the rollerball somewhere in my sewing room - now there was an instrument that was a joy to set to paper! I didn't send out holiday cards this year, unlike last year when I hand addressed over 40 cards. I haven't been journaling either, even though there's a certain peace and satisfaction that accompanies writing your deepest thoughts in a pretty little book - it's almost meditative.

I wrote (via keyboard) in my New Year's List post about having more quiet time, being more in the present, but it's difficult when you're running around 90 miles an hour "doing" to stop and rest. To sit and be still and embrace a quiet sport like reading or writing takes perseverance and discipline for those of us who are driven to overachieve. But since I memorialized that desire on my 2015 list, I should at least give it the college try.

All that being said, it's Sunday, and I need to sew. It sound like more "doing" than resting, but there is a beautiful rhythm to making a garment...especially if you are able to share the whole process "writing" in FabricLady's blog to inspire others.

There's that keyboard thing again.  I'll try to be still this evening...maybe I'll read. Oh whoops, the Golden Globes are on tonight - does that count as resting? (I watch it for the fashion.)

By the way, did you know that they don't even teach cursive writing in school today?  What's up with that?

"Catching up on Her Reading" - Polyvore Art, Laurel Dismukes, 2015

Laurel. Show me your pens!