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@ Cykros
2025-01-19 12:50:28
I've been reading Bushido, by Inazo Nitobe ( https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12096/pg12096-images.html ) and did take note of the fact that calligraphy was actually a focused skill that samurai would practice. Definitely something that I didn't necessarily expect, but it does make sense given the very holistic focus on aesthetics as something taken a bit more seriously than we ever really do in the modern world. Even when we do, it tends to be in service of marketing. Which would make any samurai consider committing seppuku over -- their disdain for money was such that it was considered a sign of good breeding for someone to not know the difference in value between different coins.
Been an interesting look into things as I wait to get a copy of The Bushido of Bitcoin, which I'm not letting myself buy before my birthday as I have the nasty habit of buying all my own best gift ideas.
I've personally played with homemade feather quills, as well as a steel-nibbed dip pen (which looks like it may be what you have there? Or perhaps fountain...). Beyond just the aesthetic differences, you also just process and think differently when writing that way. Gone are the 9 page diatribes and twitter telling me I should buy premium (lol gfy Elon) if i want to be so verbose. And in flows the distillation of concise thought.
Something which you may notice right here doesn't come the most naturally to me -- especially right after my morning matcha and MUD\WTR.
It forms an unlikely mindfulness practice which I can only assume has to be good for us, especially in counteracting the distraction saturated modern world we live in. tl;dr, cool practice, and keep it up!