Graphology and the candidates

Our group the Tucson Chapter of The American Handwriting Analysts Foundation plans to look at the candidates signatures at the March meeting. When the candidates first started campaigning one of the Eastern newspaper reporters wondered in his column what graphologists would say about them. I sent him my comments on Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Mc Cain not knowing they would be the only ones campaigning before long. I missed seeing Mitt Romney's writing and do not remember if I said anything about Huckabee or Edwards writing. I really would like to have more than just a signature because there is some bearing on what was signed and how it is signed. For example, Mc Cain's signature was on two lines and both written uphill so it appeared to be an autograph rather than a normal signature while Hillary's was on a line as if it was a form being signed. This can also affect the signature to a small extent as she may have been trying to stay within a set space. While Obama's definitely showed his Arabic background unfortunately I have nothing else to compare to his signature. Some analyst's tell you the signature has the greatest importance as this is the face you present to the world but I still prefer to have both the signature and writing as well. When you have both then you know if the writer really is how they present themselves to the world. Some people are totally different from what their signature represents though the majority I have seen are the same. So far I have only seen one writing that was so large the writer only got three or four words across the page while the whole signature took up the space of one word. So he wanted to be seen as controlled, focused meek and analytical when he was ambitious, pushy and often rude to others.

The fun part of looking at politicians handwriting is how do you say what you see diplomaticly and do you go over everything you find. Maybe I did see Romney's signature because I remember two of the signatures were illegible and Huckabee's first name was so illegible I had to look up his name and then Huckabee became a mere thread. As we all understand the things that make a good diplomat and politian also make a good con-man.

Hillary very much wants to be known as a woman in her own right, capable, determined, and well qualified. While she would be happiest if she could run on her own without help or interferrence from her husband she realizes that is impossible so she will profit in any way possible from her experiences in the White House. She is determined and direct to the point of bluntness. Needs someone to handle the small details she finds iritating and keeps most people from getting too close.

Obama's signature definately shows he was Arabic taught. Not knowing the copybook form for Arabic I am somewhat at a disadvantage but again there is threading which slurs the forms. Any threading is an indication of not wanting to be pinned down, to escape responsibility when things go wrong, to hide the personal self, and of course speed of thought and action. He could be very creative in his dealings with others.

McCain's signature was an autograph so he may not be as up beat and optimistic as it appears. He, however, has great focus. With only eight letters of the alphabet to work with I can say he is able to keep secrets his own as well as our countries. He pays attention to details, has a lot of mental activity and a wry sense of humor.

Children's writing

I really like to do children's handwriting but it has to be looked at more forgivingly than an adults. They are facing hormonal changes, drugs, the cruelty of children one to another, often parents who are too tired or too busy to seem to care plus the pressures of school. Myself, I was glad it was my daughter who had to raise two children 20 years ago and now its my great-grandchildren and the pressures are even greater.
Children cannot be expected to have the maturity for long range plans but it is a good thing when I do a school presentation and can teach the kids how cursive is important. Not only is it actually faster to write but the connections between letters is important. Angle connections show logic and analytic ability, garlands show friendliness, and arcades are a form of self protection as well as of being creative. There are three more connection types but these are used by the majority of writers. Printing fosters a seperateness from others especially bad at a time of life when it is important to them to belong, to a family, a group, or unfortunately to a gang.
Also these occasions give me a chance to help explain to teachers why Tim or John or Judy are such a handful in class. Some are bored by the classes geared to the slower thinkers in class. They want hands on, how does it work, let me try learning. Then you have the cumulative thinkers who cannot skip steps but must write things down to remember them or do it as they learn. Ask them a question even a little differently than it was explained to them in class and their time is spent figuring out just what you want before they can answer. Their class work may earn them A's but test drop them to C's. Or you may have those in class who have such terrible home lives they don't turn in homework or can't stay awake in class, or who have learning disabilities that have not been diagnosed or addressed.
My grandson is one of those, he is the slowest reader I have ever seen though he tests as having good reading comprehension. He can only manage about one third of a timed test because he can't be hurried. Yet when in school he regularly tested two to four years higher than his grade. Or you get the girl who won't wear her glasses because her family can't afford contacts so homework is good but classwork is bad.

Fears

The fears found in the handwriting seem to fall into just a few catagories. Fear of ridicule, fear of failure, fear of rejection and self-consciousness which is basically a form of fear of ridicule. How these fears cause us to react though is many and varied.
Fear of ridicule may cause one person to be a loner and to focus on mental activity keeping others at a distance. While another person will channel their energy into ambition to be so successful no one would dare ridicule them. Another might be rude and nasty keeping others off balance so they don't have time to consider why they are being treated this way. Remember the addage "The best defense is a good offense." Still another might be self-deprecating in hopes you will leave them alone when you see they are tearing themselves down.
Also we may have a fear of loss of security or of rejection. The reaction here might be envy, jealousy, possessiveness, to be miserly or to try and acquire material possessions.

Margins

The space you do or do not leave on the left side of the page represents your past and your need for security. Is your left margin very tiny or about what it would be using notebook paper. A person writing with enthusiasm for their subject may make their margin wider and wider as they can't seem to pause long enough in their enthusiasm to go all the way back to the left margin. Each type of margin tells the graphologist something different about the writer.


The right side is the future so do you stop well away from it like you are afraid of what the future holds? Do you run crashing into the edge of the page and have to squeeze your letters together to complete the last word? Then you do not plan very well. Do you reach the edge and then turn up or down along the edge or do you place that last work under the line. In children learning to write and unsure of margins and word sizes this can be forgiven but in an adult they obviously have never learned from their mistakes.

The amount of space you leave at the top of the page tells how formally you feel toward the person to whom you are writing. The person who writes leaving a large margin at the top such as for a business letter has respect for the receiver of the missive. To a friend the margin may only be a couple of writing lines deep but the person who starts writing right at the top does not recognize bounderies or feels familiar enough to invade your space.

If there is a fairly large border all around the writing then the writer is one who can visualize and judge the amount of space their writing will take and adjust the margins accordingly.

My mind has switched on...

Once I am awake enough to start thinking about my day I might as well get up because I will not get back to sleep anyway. At least Idon't have to do the presentation for AHAF after all so that is one thing off my list.

Thought of doing something on baselines but I did do some on it before. Different teachers and different groups say to measure the baseline differently. One method is to put a ruler under the first and last letter of a sentence and draw a pencil line. Then you can easily see if the writing follows a straight, bouncy, concave or convex line. You also can see if it goes up or down across the page. Another method is to measure the baseline of each word in a sentence. Some teachers claim you should take 100 measurements of a handwriting between the slant, the margins and the baseline. I don't know that I ever took that many measurements of a writing but the more you take when you are new the better your eye will get at gauging the slant etc without measuring. This is especially helpful when doing quickies for an event when you don't have the luxury of measurements. Indeed at an event you barely have time to contemplate what to say let alone to take measurements and weigh traits against each other. However, if words start at the baseline and go up so it sort of looks like each word is a balloon about to fly off the page the writer is having a hard time keeping his or her feet on the ground. Another way of looking at the baseline is from the lower zone. Do the lower zone loops come back to the baseline?If not then the writer is frustrated by something and does not carry out projects. It is a form of procrastination. Does the lower loop come up and cross the baseline in such a way that it cuts into the middle zone of the letter? There is a trauma to the ego involved here. We can't tell what just that something has happened. Does the lower loop come back to the baseline go thru it and into the upper zone? This person wants attention and may do good or bad to get it. If the lower loop comes back to the baseline or just above but curves downward they are able to complete projects etc but something in their life is making them unhappy.

Can changing your handwriting change your personality?

A definate yes on being able to change your personality through handwriting but with a big caveate. Changes should be done one at a time for up to 30 days. As they say it takes at least 21 days to change a habit.
Did you know your personality is set before you even learn to write? I have a resentment stroke that shows in my writing and because of its size my teacher and I figured it came about age 3 or 4 and involved my parents divorce. Now he was a great grapho-therapist who specialized in anarexics, bulimics and suicides. It is best to work with someone who understands grapho-therapy before you try major changes to your personality and not just any handwriting analyst will do.
One recommendation is to underline your name every time you write it even if you use your nickname. Why? Well, what do we underline? Important things, and if you underline your name it will subconsciously tell your brain you are important. The next most usual thing to change is the t-bar. If you normally connect your t-bar to the next letter (th, to) this is not something I would change but if you do not connect the t-bar then yes raise it to between 3/4 and the top of the t. Do not go above it. The t-bar sets your goals so at the level of the mid zone letters you live day to day with no long range plans. Half way between mid zone and the top is reasonable and reachable but go too high and you are fooling yourself into daydreaming about the results instead of working on your goals. In fact 2 things you should never try to change is your slant and your Personal Pronoun I (PPI for short). If they change as a result of other changes in your writing or because of your personality changes that is fine but forcing changes can make you very irritable and hard to get along with and may sabatoge what you are trying to accomplish.

Was I right or wrong?

Recently heard from a blogger (Logtar) and analyzed his handwriting and his wife's. He and his fellow bloggers had an issue with my saying he needs space to unwind and regroup. They all say he is 24/7 into interaction and input. Well this is his way of going into his own "little world". He is actually alone but not disconnected. I bet he has trouble turning off his mind to sleep with all of that input. Now I am waiting to hear what his wife says about her analysis.
My son-in-law who never had much interest in video games has recently started playing on-line and he is running into this problem. He has met people of all ages and from many places but he is not getting his rest as needed. Had a 3 day weekend and by Mon when he had to go to work again looked like he had a bad hang-over when it was just lack of sleep. I know I have learned not to play on pogo just before bed or I even play in my sleep. My solution has become to watch a home improvement show just before switching off the lights. Nothing exciting and I learn something then switch off the light and watch my starry ceiling (my part-time business) and in minutes I am out for the night. Grapho-therapy would work but I prefer my stars.