It was Saturday evening in middle of the dark Finnish November. I found myself digging deeper into what fun activity I could do. Virtual hangouts have been an effective activity for staying connected with my family and friends in Amman and around the world. One virtual hangout that is always of particular importance is a call with my calligraphy teacher in Amman, Master Riad Tabbal.
Every time we have a video call, he reminds me to continue practising calligraphy even if I am not able to meet him in person. He was able to give me the guidance I needed through video calls and emails. I would send him an image by email and he would send me corrections back. He discuss the reasoning behind those corrections and explain the history of the calligraphic scripts.
I often visit Amman to practise Arabic calligraphy under Mr. Tabbal’s guidance. The visits to his studio are also a cultural experience. We discuss old music, movies, and multiple stories over a cup of sweetened tea. Practising calligraphy with him face to face is a very heartwarming experience. While I miss the face to face visits, Mr Tabbal is always able to share his knowledge and generously teach even through a very stiff format. I just really miss the tea.
I always find calligraphy a very therapeutic and grounding activity. I am very lucky to be able to have such an activity in these hard times. When I do calligraphy, I completely unwind and I can focus without any outside noise.
Bette(r) Days celebrates the things that did not suck in 2020. Each day in December, we’ll be posting about the highlights of our collective garbage fire of a year, type-related or not.