Your handwriting represents you. Whenever you sign your signature to
a line, it gives away a tiny part of you. It is said that generous people use
extremely large letters, while people who are stingy, or tight with giving, tend
to use smaller characters. It is said that those who write with their letters
leaning to the left live in the past, whereas those whose letters are slanted
to the right, are more futuristic in outlook.
Heavy, darker strokes are said
to come from people who are bold, emphatic, or aggressive, whereas light
strokes, or almost invisible strokes, indicate timidity, or fear. I imagine some
will find this information quite controversial, however, overall, I have found
some of these assertions to have validity in many cases, with exceptions
of course.
People who write off the line continuously are said to be not as focused
as those who stay on the line. People's whose writing is uneven and wobbly
have usually suffered some neurological damage. Stroke patients often
tend to show that in their handwriting. A friend of mine had this kind of
handwriting, and I thought she had suffered a stroke. A few months later,
after a visit to her doctor, he confirmed just what I had thought.
Most of us learn handwriting in school. Teachers use different techniques
and strokes to teach this fundamental skill. It is quite apparent that the art
of handwriting has deteriorated over the years, and this skill is not given the
same focus as other subjects or skills. Because we are in the age where
technology looms, some educators do not feel this is essential, thus
less emphasis and time is devoted to its development.
All of us, perhaps,
have seen copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
They reveal careful, ornate strokes during a time when handwriting was
considered more of an art. Nowadays, we see other important documents
signed, and the names would be obscure to us unless we knew who the
signers were. It gets worse with signatures on prescriptions, and even
some autographs.
Employers often evaluate their employees by making a silent handwriting
analysis. Handwriting that is legible is preferred far above script that carries
a "I don't care" look, and you can believe there have been many occasions
where people were hired because their handwriting was neat and clear.
So, handwriting still matters today, despite the less emphasis on it.
A case
and point would be a bank teller who scribbles your name down, and then
proceeds to scribble down your $l,778.00 deposit. She, of course, has
to type it in on the computer, however if this deposit looked more like
$1,118.00, you would not be too happy. Handwriting does make a
difference.
Before the modern printing press, the Holy Bible was copied by hand.
Those who did this tedious task took painstaking efforts to make sure that
each letter of each word was formed clearly. Special pens and quills were
employed for this task. Because of their careful work, the Holy Bible has
come down to us preserved in its God inspired messages, directives,
eloquence, and beauty.
As we move into the future, let us not forget the past. There are still those
who aspire to keep their handwriting a thing of art. And there will always
be those who might see it through the eye of a chicken-- scratch. Perhaps
one day the issue will be settled in a universal script to be taught with
universal expectations. That will then necessitate another question, and
other issues to be dealt with. The main question will be, "What kind of
script, and how will it be evaluated?"
