Pen-and-Paper Deceleration

When Kellene Giloff wants a break from what she describes as her “go-go-go” life, she gets elbow-deep into ink, paper and rubber stamps and makes cards that are works of art.

“It’s so therapeutic,” says Giloff of Lake Forest. “Many times when I’m stressed, it calms me down. You can’t think of the bills to be paid when you’re working with a pen and paper and trying to make a perfect ‘S.’ ”

Giloff isn’t alone when it comes to seeking ways to slow down the pace of existence in an age of modems and faxes, voice mail and e-mail. Many people have begun to appreciate those things that take time, that help them escape the warp speed of technology. They engage in such stress-relievers as gardening, yoga or putting pen to paper.

Wolff Heinrichsdorff, co-managing director of Montblanc, which recently opened a store in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, calls the search for alternatives to high-tech, high-speed living “de-acceleration.”

“It means concentrating on that which is really essential,” he says. “Society is running at a higher speed, but we all need to ask why we’re running. People are beginning to fight against the treadmill because they’re finding that running faster doesn’t work. They’re looking for ways to stay quiet for a moment and concentrate on things that are important.”

While computer manufacturers boast about the ever-increasing speed of their hardware and the trillion bits of information one can store on their little plastic disks, there are people searching for ways to reduce rather than increase the information coming their way.

They’ve come to value things that bear a human touch such as a handwritten letter versus something churned out by laser printer and faxed to a phone number.

The U.S. publishes 1,500 daily newspapers, 10,500 magazines and 60,000 new books a year. “We have no chance to read them all,” Heinrichsdorff says. “We’re like hamsters on a wheel.”

For Heinrichsdorff, proof that people are searching for ways to “de-accelerate” can be seen in the popularity of the fountain pen, which has enjoyed a resurgence even though, as a writing instrument, it’s slow and even a little bit messy.

In a hurry-up computer age, the fountain pen has no pragmatic value, yet it’s become a luxury item (Montblanc’s collectibles sell for thousands).

The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Assn. estimates that the number of fountain pens shipped worldwide increased by 53% from 1975 to 1994. People have grown to appreciate them because they last and their very use demands that they slow down.

In the future, the new criterion for luxury goods will be that they give the impression that their owners have all the time in the world.

People will covet things that last because they satisfy a “demand for warmth,” Heinrichsdorff says. For instance, mechanical watches that need to be wound by hand have already boomed in popularity.

“My father had a 1937 Longines wristwatch. When I look at that watch, I see my father. I doubt you can hand down a computer to your son,” Heinrichsdorff says.

Even cuff links--which take a little extra time to put on in the morning--have not been entirely replaced by more practical buttons because they give a man a chance to pause in the morning, he says.

“They give you time to prepare your brain for the day.”

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People want things that don’t succumb to the planned obsolescence of a disposable society.

“From the moment you buy a computer, it’s out of date,” Heinrichsdorff says. “We need things that can preserve the moment. People are tired of having to buy something new all the time.”

Although people may long for permanence and some may search for alternatives to technology, slowing down isn’t necessarily a form of cyber-backlash.

“We’re not against high tech, but there has to be a balance between high tech and high touch,” he says. “You need time to have friends, to concentrate on those you love.”

Hobbyists who practice stamping, calligraphy, other paper arts do so because they like creating something slowly with their hands, but many are computer-savvy. They’re unafraid to surf the Net to find out more information about their hobbies, says Giloff, who started a magazine called Somerset Studio in January for fans of hand-stamped cards, elegant penmanship and beautiful paper.

“There’s a fascination with paper. You’re not seeing a lot of it anymore because everything’s on a disk. Handwritten letters are becoming a thing of the past,” she says.

Some people have come to regard anything handwritten as worth saving, even if the letter isn’t addressed to them.

In the past 10 years, old autograph books, valentines, postcards, letters, diaries and other handwritten documents have become sought-after collectibles, says Carol Haglund, owner of Yesterday’s Paper, an antique store specializing in paper items in San Juan Capistrano.

“It’s a lot of nostalgia. These days, the only handwriting I see is checks,” Haglund says. “Most letters are generated by computer.”

Handwriting itself requires both time and concentration, yet people are practicing calligraphy just for the pleasure it brings, says Barbara Close, a calligraphy artist in La Mirada who teaches classes at Plaza Pen & Art in Fountain Valley.

“People are a little tired of the fast lane with all the computer e-mail. Calligraphy is a soothing way to come back to earth,” she says.

There’s simply no fast way to make a perfect swirl with a fountain pen, to rewind an old watch, to make a garden grow--and that’s the point:

“We’re discovering the hours that count are the hours one does not count,” Heinrichsdorff says.