Sloppy, Messy handwriting

Griffonage, the new normal in this digital age among the X, Y, Z generations, is the term for careless, illegible handwriting. 

It didn’t exist in the silent generation (1925-1945) among adults. My parents had beautiful, readable handwriting, and so did their peers. 

The baby boomers (my generation) followed suit. We were taught how to write our alphabets properly in grade school—capital and small letters.  Some private schools even had subjects focused on perfecting cursive writing. In those days, you could tell who graduated from what school, based on their penmanship.  

Today, those who have never known a day without a computer, type on keyboards rather than write on paper. Without practice, handwriting becomes griffonage—sloppy and messy.  

Also today, handwriting is taught and encouraged only in grade school. Its importance has dipped rock bottom.  

It is a miracle that pharmacists can read doctors’ prescriptions!   

In my writing journey, despite the availability of digital writing gadgets, I have learned that the brain retains knowledge from handwritten scribbles, more than typed notes. Studies verify that the brain comprehends better when we commit notes to paper (perhaps because our hands are connected to our gray matter and our laptop is not?). 

Due to the glut of interesting and distracting things happening at the same time at super speed these modern times, people tend to rush things, including their writing. 

Writing by hand slows the world down. 

It helps me focus and think more thoroughly about the information I am recording. At the same time, it allows me to enjoy the grace that expands my thoughts and to form connections between them. 

According to psychologists, handwriting—because it is tedious—forces the brain to engage with the information, developing a strong conceptual and critical understanding since words are not jotted down verbatim. Therefore, the writer summarizes the information in a way that makes sense to him. 

In truth, I lapse often into griffonage because my mind thinks faster than my hand can write, but when I reread my notes, they’re crystal clear to me because my heart and soul know exactly the context upon which they were written.  

If you’re a digital fan, try writing by hand sometime.