Hi my name is Dawna. I am learning Gregg Anniversary shorthand. I started working with shorthand years ago when I wanted to find a faster way of taking notes. I love the beauty of Gregg shorthand and am hoping that joining your community will give me the motivation to make it a daily habit. I have the Anniversary manual and a dictionary and 5000 Most Used Forms printed off. I also have ordered the two volumes of Gregg Shorthand Manual for the Functional Method, and the Gregg Speed Studies Anniversary edition. Now I am going to work on making it a habit every day to work on it.
My background is a computer programmer/systems analyst that programmed in mainframe assembler, then a stay at home mom and now I am in my last year of training as a Feldenkrais practitioner. Looking forward to connecting with you all. I know that in the past working with people has often helped me persist and I would love to grow in my skill of this beautiful form of writing. I plan to use it in note taking and journaling.
Excellent Dawna, and welcome to the blog!
Dawna, I have been playing with this "hobby" for over a decade. My most rapid advancement came when I discovered a friend used shorthand (since the 60's) and we began a regular (almost daily) correspondence. Though her shorthand varied slightly, it was similar enough that I learned to read it (without writing it out), while I focused on the specifics taught in my version (Simplified) to write with.
If you can find a friend to correspond with regularly, you will find your writing will become more fluid and your skill more confident.
Enjoy the hobby, hope you have fun with it.
I was glad to hear you mention the beauty of Gregg shorthand. That is what made me choose it from others. And you will find more than usual references to graceful writing in discussions of Gregg — which perhaps has a link to your Feldenkrais (never heard of that before) studies.
Feldenkrais is a kind of mindful movement that helps anyone learn to move with more ease so not really related to Gregg Shorthand. One of the things about it is learning to be gently aware of yourself so you move in a way that is more pleasant, easier and simpler and to let go of unnecessary strain and holding yourself tightly. I think maybe the efficiency and beauty of Gregg Shorthand might have some kind of connection there. There is something about the beauty and the flow of it that does make me think of the Feldenkrais method.
If you use Facebook, you may want to check out the group Gregg Shorthand Readers, Writers, and Fans. It's pretty active, and the group has a set of Files available.
I've been posting a fair amount of material in recent months from old issues of The Gregg Writer and Today's Secretary.
Lee
Thanks for the information Lee. I am rarely on Facebook but I’d like to check out that group.
Thank you all so much for the advice and encouragement. Very glad to be here!
I had never heard of Feldenkrais before, but a little research shows that some of the exercises were recorded in Eshkol-Wachman movement notation. Movement notation is somewhat of an interest of mine (though I'm more familiar with Laban than with Eshkol-Wachman). I know this post is a bit off-topic, but people interested in shorthand seem also to be interested in other language arts. I think movement notation is akin to the language arts, just as music notation is.
Thanks for the info. I had a fellow student that was trained in Laban but I've never heard of Eshkol-Wachman. Interesting stuff. I was reading in the Gregg Speed Studies book about posture. I'll have to dig through my Feldenkrais ATMs (Attention to Movement Lessons) and see if I can find some that would be helpful for improving and adding ease to good posture for shorthand. I enjoy seeing how different threads of learning connect. Thanks again.
Welcome Dawna! I too am learning Anniversary, a few months in, making slow but steady progress I hope. Good luck with it. It is beautiful and it is absorbing. Let's hope it will be useful to us both too. I have the Functional Method books and they give a lot more material to work with than the standard Anniversary textbook, which I find useful mainly for looking up the rules if I can't work them out from the examples.
Thanks Tim for the encouragement and welcome. It helps me keep going to know there are others working on the same goal and that enjoy this beautiful elegant writing. I also want to get proficient enough to read all the wonderful stories and articles Carlos has posted.