27 April 2018

Free For All Friday No. 493

This week has been National Stationery Week in UK.

I came across a couple of links on the National Stationery Week Facebook Page about hand writing:
My own handwriting is not very good, never has been, bad enough to be considered good enough to be a Doctor!!! I can remember at primary school being kept in the class at break times to do writing exercises to try and improve my hand writing, it made no difference!

It wasn't until recently when I started to use fountain pens on a more regular basis that I think I worked out why my hand writing is so bad. 

Because I'm effectively blind in one eye (always has been since birth) I don't have true stereophonic vision or 3D vision. So when I lift the pen nib to move to the next character or the next word. I struggle to know where the tip of the nib is going to land on the paper. 

It is down to poor hand and eye co-ordination when dealing with very small movements. Try writing with one eye covered up you will see what I mean! May be I should try practicing my hand writing a bit more to see if I can improve it now I think I know what the problem is!

I think hand writing is very important, our hand writing style tells us a lot about the person, especially for future generations. 

Of course it is Friday so please feel free to discuss anything organiser related as well as the topic above. 

Have a great weekend. 

4 comments:

  1. I have the same problem with my eyes and my handwriting was always terrible. It even worse when I try to draw! But lots of practicing was actually helpful to make my writing acceptable.

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  2. I have a similar problem with my vision, but it doesn't affect my fine motor skills -- I have very neat handwriting, have always been a naturally "tidy" knitter, stitcher, &c. Instead, I tend to have problems with mid-range motor skills. I am forever placing mugs of coffee right at the edge of a table, walking my shoulder into the edge of hallways, banging my shins into things, missing the curb as I cross the street. Which is to say, I think practicing may help with your handwriting. I practiced a lot when I was young, because there is a lot of cultural emphasis on tidy handwriting in East Asian cultures, especially for girls and women. I had fairly bad handwriting until I got to middle school, when I studied italic calligraphy and used that to inform my everyday handwriting.

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    1. Yes I recognise your problems with banging in to things! I'm great at finding my way around my house in the dark! I have this sort of six sense to be able to do that.
      I discovered I can touch type a few years ago when the lights went out but the computer was still working (laptop) and I was still typing away!
      I drive without too many issues, 40+ years of practice I guess. My wife always says I seem to brake very early. I tend to lift off the gas early and let the vehicle slow itself down before I apply the brakes... what is the rush!
      I'm hopeless at sports because I can't judge were the ball or shuttlecock is if I have nothing to compare it against so avoid that sort of thing!

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    2. I didn't realize it until you mention it, but I do tend to walk around the apartment with the lights off at night without ever banging into anything. My husband always turns on the hall lights or uses his phone's flashlight, whereas I don't see why he bothers -- and he was a double-varsity athlete in high school with better than 20/20 vision.
      I think my fine motoring skills and your car driving abilities are proof that practice helps those of us with faulty depth perception. Good luck with your handwriting, Steve!
      (And, as always, thanks for keeping Philofaxy such a welcoming and relevant space.)

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