writing to slow down

I love writing.

I don’t just mean writing posts like this, which I do love, but physically writing with a pen on paper.

I also love writing in cursive, though my boys let me know fewer and fewer people can read it.

I also love nice notebooks to write in.

My new notebook that is specifically for capturing thoughts to come back to—frees my mind up to continue creating and not having to remember.

The thing is, as I start writing and my creativity flows, my penmanship declines. It’s like my hand can’t keep up with the speed of my thoughts, and before long, I even have trouble reading what I wrote down.

This has led me to try printing (I can’t stand the way my print looks), dictating my initial thoughts (I hate listening to my voice), electronic notebooks that can convert to PDFs (they don’t have the same feel or experience as paper and pen), and going straight to my computer (which robs me of the writing I like).

None of these last, and I find my Self back in my notebooks with some great penmanship and some not so great.

Last week, I found another reason to love writing.

I was meeting with a client and observed how neatly he printed while taking notes. I also noticed how slowly he wrote to ensure his writing was legible, and that’s when the light bulb went off.

Writing in my notebooks can help me slow down a little bit throughout the day.

By slowing down just a little bit as I write down tasks, ideas, or anything else I feel compelled to make sure I don’t forget, I am slowing down the overall day. I definitely don’t mind moving fast, but I really appreciate being able to slowly move through my day. An ideal start to my day includes walking to the coffee shop to write, then walking back home—no rush on either the walk or the writing.

While writing in my notebook isn’t quite the same, it gives me the same feeling and lets me drop into the present moment as I focus on the thought and write nicely. I’m hoping that the more time I take to write will become contagious in other areas of my day, slowing things down a bit.

This realization really excited me, and I just wanted to share it with you.

Keep pursuing,

JC