How I picked up calligraphy
On March 12, 2020 the Federal Government made an announcement on the news – School will be cancelled for two weeks after March/Spring break. They also urged all the Canadians who’s currently travelling outside of Canada to return home. Ever since the first case of COVID-19 hit Toronto, my emotions had been up and down. Our family planned to travel to Japan during March/Spring break, but we decided at the end of February to cancel it. My kids had been talking about ramen, mochi and all the exciting things in Japan for the past few months yet it had to be cancelled. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is to read through all the news about this virus – did the number go up? Down? How many people are infected in the world? In particular with news in Asia or HK because most of my relatives resides there.
When the government announced school closure, I feel a relief because my kids would stay with me at home. Me and my husband’s company also announced the policy to work from home which I am very thankful for being able to stay at home and work.
With all these happening, I am very grateful that I met Calligraphy a few years ago. During this stay at home time I can practice my calligraphy skill. Here are a few reasons why calligraphy is helping me during this time.
Calligraphy is very therapeutic
Calligraphy is actually very good for your mental health. Almost every night during this stay home period I took out my calligraphy pad to practice. Forget about the information bombarded daily with emails, cellphone, social media, screen time, etc. it is very nice to have the me time to this practice after I put my kids to bed. Calligraphy is just like doing some art pieces, it takes a good concentration and focus skill to practice. By the time you are done with a few pages, it would already be bedtime. So please go grab a cup of nice drink, put on some of your favourite music in the background and take out a paper pad and just start writing. Trust me, it’s joyful to get out of your practice with daily improvements.
Calligraphy is an Inexpensive Activity
Why I said calligraphy is not an expensive activity is because of the inexpensive tools. All you need for calligraphy is paper and pen. It depends what you want to do – brush calligraphy or pointed pen calligraphy. Brush calligraphy might require less tools since you only need brush pen and paper. For pointed pen you might need slightly a few more tools – paper, pen holder, nib and ink. Nevertheless, all of these are not expensive because we are talking about $20-30 for a beginner starter kit which is similar to the cost for dining out. (You may refer to my other blog on what supplies to get for brush calligraphy). All these tools last long, perhaps a few months before you need to replenish with new nibs or ink. If this pandemic lasts a few months, I would have all the tools I need to stay home to practice.
So here you go, if you find it boring to just keep browsing on Netflix and find what to watch, take out a piece of paper and start doing some calligraphy. I would love to hear and connect with you during this stay home time. Please tag me if you decide to give calligraphy a try!
Visit my Instagram @sincerely.bo to see more calligraphy projects!
Sincerely,
Margaret