Why Shorthand?

Why do I want to learn Shorthand? Well, I suppose you could say because it is there.

If you want a longer reason:
I am sort of a Hobby collector, as in I collect hobbies. I knit (including designing knitwear), crochet, tat, spin, weave, embroider, cross stitch, draw, sketch, paint (watercolor), make cards, do bookbinding, collect fountain pens, read voraciously and play the penny whistle.

A slightly 'deeper' why:
I know that my grandmother took shorthand because I remember her talking about it when I was younger and I feel a bit closer to her by learning.  The idea of knowing a 'secret' code seems fun, but also that whatever I write will (hopefully) by decipherable by other who also know is neat too. And I like the idea of being able to quickly record what others are saying, especially at meetings, or while on the phone. (my short term memory kind of sucks, especially when clouded by some slight social anxiety)

Shorthand initially crossed my radar while watching an episode of Dr. Who, then again while watching an episode of Torchwood. I got curious and did a little research and learned that there were many different forms of shorthand and that the ones used in those shows was most likely Teeline. Since I live in the US and there was some question of the readability of Teeline after any length of time, I looked at Gregg and Pitman. The idea of having to pay attention to line width and spacial placement discouraged me (despite the ability to fuel my fountain pen hobby by adding flex pens to my list of 'needs'), so I researched Gregg and found Andrew Owen's site.

I'm not sure how far I will get with this - I start to feel overwhelmed if I skim to far past the first couple chapters, but I'm interested to see just how much I can learn and how fast I can write.

1 comment:

  1. FWIW, I just found this site, because I've just started on my Gregg Shorthand journey. :) Hope all is well and that you've continued to find joy in using Gregg!

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