More on Handwriting

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was working on my handwriting using the Vimala Rodgers' book
Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life and decided to expand on a bit on that subject.

How did I get here...attempting to change the handwriting that has served me for Lo, These Many Years?

Amelia and Erin (who have young children) have both been curious at different times about Montessori education. I'd also heard about Waldorf Schools, though I knew less about them. Research into the Waldorf system led to Vimala Rodgers, who has worked with school systems across the country and whose handwriting style has been incorporated into many Waldorf schools.

(slight digression, this excellent article compares the two methods, giving a better insight into both Waldorf and Montessori...and, uh, I had to increase the text size on the article)

That is the most recent interest in handwriting, but about 10 years ago, I met a friend of my best friend's family. The woman was a trained graphologist and worked with insurance companies and the occasionally the police, making determinations about individuals based on handwriting. Fascinating stuff.

I was hooked and went to the library, checked out several books on handwriting analysis, and found one I really liked, Handwriting Analysis: Putting It to Work for You by Andrea McNichol, an excellent presentation of material with tons of examples, some from famous people. I didn't want to return it to the library and renewed it a couple of times, but eventually I gave in and bought a copy. Handwriting analysis is truly an intriguing, surprising, and fascinating subject.

This past spring, my sister-in-law attended a workshop that dealt in part with the importance of handwriting and a bit about analysis. We often discuss developments in education, and she attends some great workshops (she is an adaptive P.E. teacher who works mostly with children with serious physical problems). Anyway, I ordered a copy of McNichol's book for her because I couldn't find mine...which is here somewhere...unless I loaned it to someone. Another search for the book is in order, and if I can't find it, I'm ordering another one.

So my interest in handwriting , graphology, and graphotherapy is not new. Rodgers' book, however, concentrates on teaching the Vimala Alphabet, which is very different from the old Palmer Style. The Vimala Alphabet has simplified letter formation and is sometimes called print-script, as many letters are formed without the connection to the next letter.

I am continue to practice, and I hope to be able to read my own journal entries at some point, instead of wondering what the heck this or that word is. The practice itself is - for me - a very calming activity. Now that I think about it, it is very similar to the feeling of hand quilting, knitting, or crocheting. If my improved handwriting results in an improved quality of life, that is a bonus that I'm more than willing to accept.