writing & drawing by hand

A lasting benefit our Benedictine education (ora et labora) brought wonder | wander | women were penmanship classes. Before that we watched our parents writing longhand - admiring their beautiful handwriting and eagerly awaiting our turn to put thought to paper so beautifully. 

"Bayan Ko" chorus in baybayin by Mahala Urra

Long before studies showed the importance of hand writing and how among other things it engages the whole human being - we were encouraged to write legibly and well. 

Being creative ignited our love for cursive early on. Eventually this art form spread into other calligraphic options. Including writing in our own regional native alphabet, badlit - the Visayan version of the better known baybayin, Philippine script of Luzon islands. 

wonder | wander | women creative collaboration

Baybayin is a pre-Spanish 14th to 18th century writing system used in the Philippines to write Tagalog and other Philippine languages and dialects. Baybayin is an abugida, which combines a consonant and vowel into a single symbol that represents a syllable. The name comes from the Tagalog word baybay, which means "to spell".

Writing in cursive has given us so much joy and entertainment through the years. It has evolved into several art expressions and practices in our lives. Daily journals line our shelves. Sketchbooks are designed according to project or insight. Old books and notebooks have been repurposed and given new life. 

Issa's sketchbook project

Learning how to write in our native script has the added benefit of reconnecting us back to our roots. Especially when we live abroad and only return for brief visits. It forged a stronger lifeline into an inner home that stays with us wherever in the world we find ourselves. 

Badlit script, Suwat Bisaya or Sulat Bisaya (written Baybayin Bisaya) - is an Ancient pre-Filipino writing system. A member of the Brahmic family and closely related to other writing systems in Southeast Asia. Badlit meaning marking, is an abugida also, like most writing system used in Southeast Asia. 

Mahala's journal

It is written from left to right and requires no spaces between words. Space is used only after the end of a sentence or punctuation. Although in modern writing it usually contains spaces after each word to enhance readability nowadays. 

When Mahala hurt her right hand, she switched to the left one - learning to write like Leonardo da Vinci did. Her script slanting from left to right on the page - readable only once reflected in a mirror, it became a coded secret. It became a great incentive to a challenging problem. 

Mahala's journal entry on Leonardo da Vinci & Marco Polo

As kids we would play around and try to write with our feet instead. Try writing with your foot - at the start it takes so much effort. Eventually though - provided you invest in the time and practice - you will succeed, that's guaranteed. 

The best of it is, anyone who takes the trouble to write, with any part of their body - is rewarded with a wonderful experience. The change and shift are felt throughout the entire body - maybe even our way of being may alter too. In the process it is a tremendous gain for the soul.

world building for Mahala's comic project

From improving focus to strengthening cognitive pathways - handwriting, as creative expression or mechanical exercise, offers neurological benefits that modern technology cannot replicate.

In 2024, two Norwegian neuroscientists (A. van der Meer: 2024) proved that when people write by hand (not typing or texting), the brain lights up everywhere at once. 

Philippine Mythology & Ancient Visayan Deities

The regions responsible for memory, sensory integration, and the encoding of new information fire all together in a coordinated pattern that spreads across the entire cortex. The whole network awakens and is talking to itself. 

So pick up that pen, pencil, crayon or brush - wield it with purpose and be ready to be surprised and delighted.