I Know Who You Are

I know who you are. It's all in your handwriting; the slant tells me your passion, the missing dot over your "i" tells me you are forgetful, and the way you sign your name gives me clues about what you do as a profession or how you feel about your father.

Handwriting analysis has been around since ancient Chinese times. Nowadays it is referred to by different names like graphology and graphoanalysis, but the objectives are quite similar; to discover the personal traits of the writer. Those traits can be used to help psychologists with analysis of their patients and even help police solve crimes.

In 1900, a man named Milton Newman Bunker published a "grapho-analysis" dictionary, that later grew into an institution called IGAS (International Grapho Analysis Society), based in Chicago. It was also a popular tool used by the French in pshychological evaluations in the 1930's and referred to as "graphology".

I became enamoured of graphoanalysis in the 1980's and joined IGAS as an official member after hearing a lecture by a Certified Document Examiner, Phyllis Mattingly. After submitting a sample paragraph of my handwriting, she could tell that I liked to travel, had a stubborn streak, and enjoyed sports.

My interest was further piqued after a presentation to our chamber of commerce by a lottery official, who discussed the handwriting traits of an embezzler. No way! I couldn't believe it, but there it was in black and white; those telltale backward "q" shapes of the "felon's claw" and deceitful script around numbers. I couldn't wait to get certified as a graphoanalyst.

Granted, cursive handwriting is no longer a common way to communicate but I miss it. There is a whole secret code there on the page, being transmitted from your brain to the paper. You leave traces of who you are whether you know it or not. This is clearly illustrated in Andrea McNichol's book, Handwriting Analysis - Putting It To Work For You. She's a consultant to the FBI and her book shows clear examples of guilt in criminal investigations by analyzing the handwriting of witnesses and perpetrators.

I remember one of my first reports was for a woman I met at a writer's conference. My analysis showed she had a creative side, an obvious trait for a writer, so nothing surprising there. But her writing sample also showed that she had a broken relationship with her father figure and there were indications of a family secret I couldn't pinpoint. I said so in my analysis.

She was stunned and told me that her father had deserted her family when she was a child. It was a bit of a family secret and the rift was still visible in her handwriting! I think she told me later, tongue-in-cheek, that she'd never write to me again.

Nowadays when I do graphoanalysis it's more of a party trick, since cursive writing is going the way of the dinosaur. I explain as I begin that handwriting is much like a photograph. One’s handwriting changes as does one’s personal photograph, but that general traits that make you uniquely you will remain the same. Because of the mind-pen-connection the brain is making, your hand creates shapes that pass through your own personal filters, and therefore reflect your emotional state-of-mind, your responsiveness to your environment, and to those around you.

Interestingly, certain characteristics cannot be determined through handwriting analysis, such as ‘handedness’ (left or right is not important- even people who write with their toes or mouths can have their writing analyzed, because of that mind-pen-connection.) Also, ‘male’ or ‘female’ cannot be determined by graphoanalysis.

My uncommon knowledge has served me well as an employer, too. Seeing handwriting samples of potential job applicants can help me decide about trustworthiness, punctuality, honesty, whether they work well by themselves, or if they have violent streaks. It's all in their handwriting.

Feel free to drop me a line. Make sure you write in cursive on unlined stationery. I'd love to hear from you!