I’m still a fan of the pen and ink; the older communicative and storage mediums which fueled yesterday’s greatest histories and paved the way to 99% of the populace flocking to word processors. Gone are the years spent cursive writing, practicing how to do proper curvature between letters and earning what would be known as the ‘pen privilege’ which in grade 5, was all the rage. I hadn’t touched a pencil for years, and it felt great.

Then, it appeared that with the migration to Word Processing and autocorrect, the art and personality of writing became processed to the point where hundreds of words looked the same from afar, and font-faces were as personal as one could get when trying to convey physical tone. The agony of writing for longer durations often made my words become incomprehensible, both in form and in literal use, likewise you could see the enthusiasm and dedication; perfectly formed letters, spacing which rivals even the best of font-faces. The former, just as the later, circle back to the days before QWERTY and Facebook.

I had a college ask me why I kept a moleskin around, and what was the purpose of it when all communication appears to occur through digital formats. My answer was twofold, the first and easiest: habit. The more drawn-out second explanation is my connection to thoughts and visualizations through physical mediums. See, I still find expression to be the driving force of the human process; the mistakes scribbled and marked out - corrected with frustrated strokes and red markings where one should ignore during future review, diverse diagrams and doodles which only one’s mind can fathom while gambling with the organization (or lack there of) which only our unique personalities endorse.

See, throughout my education I’ve had the honor and horror of seeing other’s notes and transcriptions. Some have an amazing style of writing and organizing their notes, others instead showcase their carefree nature when it comes to structure and order. This is just a single example how a simple page with ink can describe a person. The one with amazing writing? Honors student with fantastical ambitions. She is going to alter the world in anyway possible, and I hope she writes how the process will occur.

Writing can be easily seen as a chore, deprecated by Word processing and flashier mediums, but some would also argue the art-centric nature of such a task. Just as the painter established his style through broad brush strokes, or perhaps muted color palettes, the writer’s page describes their artful nature as well. One cannot express every nuance through digital text in every situation, just as one cannot write sincerity with the same tact. The screen has a place for many modern activities, and it can also offer organizational methods which incomparable.

I endorse technology first most, but the return to a simpler time eases the mind and removes the fatigue and disconnect from your thoughts and the medium. I find that on a computer or mobile device, we are too distracted by the colors and brilliance found on the screen. The simplicity of a durable notebook and comfortable page marks the turning point between storing thoughts, and truly understanding them.

Ink is like time, the more you find on the page requires understanding the process of which how you got there.