Traditional Handwriting Penmenship.

I used to think all this talk about younger generations losing handwriting skills was exaggerated something Baby Boomers (myself included) liked to complain about. I figured it was just one of those “back in my day” narratives that didn’t really hold much weight.

Then the other day, I sat down to handwrite a simple list.

And that’s when it hit me.

I’m 62 years old, and while I’ve always enjoyed writing by hand well, maybe not so much back in grade school I never realized just how valuable that skill really was. What shocked me most wasn’t the act of writing… it was what my handwriting had become.

It was terrible.

That genuinely surprised me, because I used to have beautiful penmanship. I took pride in it especially in the way I’d form my letters, like my A’s, H’s, and K’s with those little flourishes that made them feel like mine.

But sitting there, pen in hand, I caught myself thinking, “Oh my God… I need to relearn how to write.”

And the truth is, I know exactly why.

Like so many others, I’ve spent the better part of the last decade probably since around 2014 typing or texting almost everything. The only thing I consistently wrote by hand was my signature. And when even your signature starts to slip… that’s when you know something’s off.

At first, I wanted to blame my age. It’s the easy explanation.

But after talking it through and really thinking about it, that’s not what this is. My hands still work just fine. The ability is still there. It’s just… unused.

It’s more like riding a bike. You don’t forget how but if you haven’t done it in years, you’re going to be a little shaky when you get back on.

So in that sense, I actually find it refreshing to see that Sweden is stepping back and reintroducing traditional handwriting pen, pencil, and paper into their schools.

Because maybe this isn’t about going backward.

Maybe it’s about holding on to something we didn’t realize we were losing.