Lately, I’ve been actively letting people know that I work as a calligrapher. I’m doing this because it’s really hitting home how often those around me are interested in it. One of my friends works at a senior center that offers daily activities for the residents—and they offered to have me host a calligraphy workshop twice a month as part of their program.
There are a lot of rules around working at a senior center, including providing several forms of identification. But they ended up reaching out to me even though they don’t have a lot of outside instructors come in. It took forever to get through all the handwritten paperwork, but I’m so glad they asked me to come on board.
During the first workshop, the participants were so excited about Japan and having a Japanese person visit that they couldn’t stop talking about the places they had traveled in Japan and the great times they had. About fifteen people participate in the workshop each session, and it’s basically an open-door policy. A lot of them simply wander in if the mood strikes them, which creates a free and relaxed atmosphere.
We spend the calligraphy time not only writing characters, but also learning some Japanese and what the words and characters mean. The theme last session was “spring.” Unlike the English word, however, the Japanese character for spring carries the feeling of the changing of the season and the budding of fresh life. When I shared these beautiful connotations with them, many nodded with interest as they carefully practiced writing the katakana, hiragana, and Chinese character versions of the word.
They were also fascinated by the Japanese paper, brushes, and even the smell of the ink that I brought with me from Japan. They peppered me with questions, asking what everything was made of, how it was made, and so on. They were also interested in my brush rest, rolled brush holder, and other small tools—and when they saw how I used my brush, they immediately copied me and were able to reproduce the movements quite well. I was really impressed with how observant and focused they were.
Once they had their finished work in their hands, they smiled as they shared with one another and thanked me out loud. Every time they did, I was filled with gratitude. Nothing feels more precious to me than sharing happy moments with people who I’m able to touch through Japanese culture.
The manager of the center, Elizabeth, purposely puts on comically large red glasses just to get them to smile, laughing as she insists seeing the same look every day would get old. She also told me that this particular center has a lot of highly intelligent residents, so they’re rarely satisfied with standard workshops—which is why she went out of her way to have me come in and do calligraphy with them. I was deeply grateful for her heartfelt support.
We were able to create a space where we transcended our cultural differences to find understanding and mutual respect. The interaction brought about by calligraphy truly makes it "an art form that binds.” Next time, I plan to focus on other themes that typify Japanese spring, like flowers and wind.
I’m already looking forward to my next workshop, encouraged by all the participants who told me that they can’t wait to do it again!