The Benefits of Lettering
We’re used to living in a rush, full of obligations. We’re always working, shopping, cooking, and cleaning… and during little free time we have left, we just want to read or watch TV. However, taking up a hobby can have great psychological benefits. Because of that, today, we’d like to share the benefits of lettering with you.
Often, lettering and calligraphy are mistakenly taken to be very similar activities, even though they have their differences. Calligraphy is a handwriting technique that looks to improve the aesthetics of a written text. On the other hand, lettering consists of designing an artistic image, in which the letters combine to form a creative and harmonic composition.
Therefore, you can see that it’s an activity that’s more related to the artistic drawing of letters than to writing. The aim is to achieve a visually pleasing image, rather than to improve the look of a text.
Watercolors, chalk, and several other materials can be used to practice this technique. But, without a doubt, felt-tip pens are one of the most popular options.
The benefits of lettering
Relaxation
Lettering can be a useful tool to help you decrease your daily stress. It’ll keep you entertained and will help you relax actively, and not passively like when you watch TV.
By doing this activity, you can experience the so-called flow state, one of the pillars of positive psychology. This occurs when you’re completely absorbed and involved in a pleasant and creative activity. During these times, you mentally feel as if you’re flying, and able to be at your best without much effort involved.
Without a doubt, it’s a good way to release stress and forget about the worries of everyday life. In addition to this, it allows you to spend time on your own with some vital you-time, doing something that you really enjoy.
Feeling good about yourself is key to establishing healthy relationships and not feeling a sense of lack. Those who are unable to enjoy their own company may fall into the mistake of building unhealthy relationships. They may also put up with relationships that increasingly acquire an unhealthy nature.
Development of skills
Lettering can help develop several skills in people who practice it. First of all, it helps your visual-manual coordination and the development of fine motor skills. Thus, when you start doing lettering, you’ll need to spend a long time becoming familiar with the different types of letter strokes, as well as how to hold your pen to achieve them.
In addition to this, it greatly favors creativity because, as we mentioned above, the goal is to create visually aesthetic images. Designing the composition and selecting the colors, strokes, and typographies is an exercise in imagination that brings your most artistic side to the fore.
Finally, taking up lettering can help boost your self-esteem. It’s an exercise that requires practice and increasing skill and is a fun way to devote time to yourself.
Perseverance is key in order for you to make progress in the goals you set for yourself. You’ll be able to see how your ability improves on a daily basis and how your effort is reflected in your projects. This, without a doubt, will give you a better self-image, as this is something that’s strengthened when there are tangible achievements.
Setting new goals and working to achieve them is a very powerful strategy for building self-esteem. This way, you’ll ensure that it won’t be an empty or artificial self-esteem, but that it’ll be built on the knowledge that you’re capable of achieving what you set out to do.
Lettering: a beneficial pastime
In short, there are many benefits of lettering. This activity offers you those much-needed moments of quietness that life sometimes prevents you from having. It’s something that will especially appeal to the most creative people. However, that being said, it can also be useful for those who want to start being more flexible and artistic.
This hobby improves concentration, motor skills, and perseverance. And, at the same time, it’ll provide you with the opportunity to let your external concerns disappear and let yourself flow positively and creatively.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Mesurado, M. B. (2009). Comparación de tres modelos teóricos explicativos del constructo experiencia óptima o flow.
- Pereira, M. L. N. (2007). Autoestima: un factor relevante en la vida de la persona y tema esencial del proceso educativo. Revista Electrónica” Actualidades Investigativas en Educación”, 7(3), 0.