Yoga of handwritten cards...
Looking at the slightly yellowed invitations which I kept because they were too beautiful to just throw away but then I also thought I could use them one day. There is a whole set of envelopes and invitations and covers and programmes which I think I could 'reuse' one day.
A gift of a pen , the kind of pen which makes you wish you could write beautifully so that everyone could understand. The cardboard are different sizes, so they cannot fit into the printer to print out business cards. I don't have a business and I manage to dodge a lot of questions of who am I and 'what do you do ' because I am not certain myself any more.
So then I decide.. take the scissors,cut up the cardboard and write down the name and the email address and the phone numbers. As I write I think shoots, how do I write the '1' in the email so that it does not look like 'l' or '7' as has happened before. And so I write them up, each card slighty different from the one before because my handwriting has never been consistent. The 'k' changes sometimes. Some of the 'v's look like 'u's but I hope that the people will realise that it is 'v'. There is a nice kind of achievement as I write up each card. It isn't taking as long as I thought it would but then I am not neat. I write 'RECYCLED' on the reverse side and hope that the people who issued the invitations don't feel weird that five years after the event, I am recycling.
The business cards look like me, untidy, "cheap", rough around the edges with smudges on them where the ink from the beautiful pen did not dry enough. They do present the information clearly though.
I can imagine the professionals saying that these do not look professional.. not like the nice printed ones on beautiful cardboard cut with the guillotines which ensure straight edges and which might be a sign of the care taken in doing the work.
There is no business as such because I have no title other than my name and the occupations vary so that it makes no sense to put one.
But then I think, maybe the people who take these cards and then throw them away, will at least get a sense of the man who handed them over. The people might realise that the man is not interested in fluff but in getting down to the task at hand. The people might know that he doesn't waste and that he is prepared to adapt to circumstances to achieve the end result.. in this case letting people know the name , email address and phone number.. They will also know that the man will not be looking for work which requires beautiful handwriting and the ability to cut cardboard neatly with a scissors.
A gift of a pen , the kind of pen which makes you wish you could write beautifully so that everyone could understand. The cardboard are different sizes, so they cannot fit into the printer to print out business cards. I don't have a business and I manage to dodge a lot of questions of who am I and 'what do you do ' because I am not certain myself any more.
So then I decide.. take the scissors,cut up the cardboard and write down the name and the email address and the phone numbers. As I write I think shoots, how do I write the '1' in the email so that it does not look like 'l' or '7' as has happened before. And so I write them up, each card slighty different from the one before because my handwriting has never been consistent. The 'k' changes sometimes. Some of the 'v's look like 'u's but I hope that the people will realise that it is 'v'. There is a nice kind of achievement as I write up each card. It isn't taking as long as I thought it would but then I am not neat. I write 'RECYCLED' on the reverse side and hope that the people who issued the invitations don't feel weird that five years after the event, I am recycling.
The business cards look like me, untidy, "cheap", rough around the edges with smudges on them where the ink from the beautiful pen did not dry enough. They do present the information clearly though.
I can imagine the professionals saying that these do not look professional.. not like the nice printed ones on beautiful cardboard cut with the guillotines which ensure straight edges and which might be a sign of the care taken in doing the work.
There is no business as such because I have no title other than my name and the occupations vary so that it makes no sense to put one.
But then I think, maybe the people who take these cards and then throw them away, will at least get a sense of the man who handed them over. The people might realise that the man is not interested in fluff but in getting down to the task at hand. The people might know that he doesn't waste and that he is prepared to adapt to circumstances to achieve the end result.. in this case letting people know the name , email address and phone number.. They will also know that the man will not be looking for work which requires beautiful handwriting and the ability to cut cardboard neatly with a scissors.
You have inspired me. I have good handwriting. I a going to make my cards from recycled material. Thanks VK!
ReplyDeleteGo for it!
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