Transformation Through Text

After a discussion with Dave last night over how both our handwritings had gone to the dogs and how we both want to improve , an interesting thought struck me. I never consciously chose what my handwriting looks like. I just copied the examples given in elementary school of print, and then copied the examples given later of cursive. Since then, my handwriting has evolved a little ¹, but on average it hsa been the same.

To be honest, I don't find my handwriting to be incredibly attractive aesthetically, but I've just accepted it as a given. Now I realize that if I want to change it, I just have to make the conscious decision to do so. It may take some practice and patience, but I can change it. And I will.

I realize that this all seems rather trivial. "Why do you care so much about your handwriting?" you might be thinking. But the point is that so many of the beliefs people have about the world, from what we should eat, to what kind of music we like, to what religion we practice, stem from a time before we could even make conscious decisions. It's really, really amazing to think that. I guess this resembles the logical phallacy (hehehe... I know it's fallacy) argumentum ad antiquitum, or "an argument through antiqutiy." Just because you / everyone have been doing something for a long time doesn't make it the best thing to do or even necessarily the right thing to do.

Try it. Just try looking with a fresh eye at some of your beliefs. You may find some that still suit you even to this day. Or you may find some, like my handwriting, that upon further inspection leave something to be desired.

¹ I stopped writing in cursive after 5 years in 9th grade because I liked the look of print more and so that people could copy my work more easily (because, suprise, they couldn't read cursive!) and my e's have changed from requiring two strokes to just one.