Adding meaning and interest to your life is surely one of the most important things that you can do for yourself.  And it isn’t all that difficult either.

If you’re feeling dull and stale, an absorbing new hobby can be just the thing to bring new light into your life.

My own way of adding that spark of interest involves handwriting analysis – which is a not only a fascinating interest but also an amazing learning experience.

It also makes a wonderful hobby. You can collect the handwriting samples of the rich and famous, of historical characters or of your own ancestors.  From their handwritings alone you’ll be able to discover so much about their personalities that it will amaze you.

We’ve all come across people who hide behind a facade of pretense and whose real personalities are completely camouflaged. With handwriting analysis you can remove the mask in minutes.

When you study someone’s handwriting you are not only looking at the written page.  You are delving into a real live person’s feelings, motives and behaviour. So it really demands empathy and a sensitive approach.

It helps you to see the people you thought you knew in a completely different light. Family members, friends and even business competitors are easier to understand.  What a win!

Of course, not to be overlooked is the actual learning experience itself.  The subject matter is totally fascinating. You can examine the handwritings of people from presidents, royalty and modern day celebrities to Einstein or Chopin and even serial killers such as Jack the Ripper and Jeffrey Dahmer.

No wonder so many people get hooked on the study! It gives you a whole new way of looking at things. It will make you wonder why you never tried it before!

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

If you are interested in understanding people, handwriting analysis is one of the most fascinating hobbies you could ever cultivate. It will lift your understanding of people to a whole new level.

We’ve all come across people who hide behind a facade of pretense and whose real personalities are completely camouflaged. With handwriting analysis you can remove the mask in minutes.

Family members, friends, competitors and even rivals will be easier to understand. Not only will it help you to understand the people nearest and dearest to you, you will also be able to see into the characters of those not so dear to you!

When you study someone’s handwriting you are not only looking at the written page.  You are delving into a real live person’s feelings, motives and behaviour.

That is why the actual study of graphology is so fascinating.  The material is so interesting.

You can collect the handwriting samples of the rich and famous, of historical characters or of your own ancestors.  From their handwritings alone you’ll be able to discover so much about them as real people that it will amaze you.

You can examine the handwritings of presidents, royalty, politicians and film stars such as Frank Sinatra.  You can even delve into the mindsets of serial killers such as Jack the Ripper and Jeffrey Dahmer.

The possibilities are endless.

It gives you a whole new understanding of all kinds of people.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Do you wish you had pretty handwriting?

Or let me phrase it another way – do you wish you could change your handwriting to make it more beautiful?

So many people admire good penmanship.  The type of handwriting that looks artistically designed with pretty little scrolls and curlicues. Anyone with a pretty or decorative handwriting is much admired – even envied.

Then there are those less fortunate individuals with really ugly handwritings.  We’ve heard such handwriting described as “chicken scratchings” or worse.

Anyway, I think it’s time to dispel one of the many myths about pretty handwriting.

• The fact is that pretty handwriting isn’t the most desirable type of writing to aspire to. And I’ll tell you why.

Graphologically speaking, a handwriting that is pretty and decorative and not much more reveals very little individuality or depth of personality.

Any writer who concentrates on the appearance and style of the writing is more focussed on the decorative aspect rather than on the desire to communicate meaningful information.

Here is an example of pretty handwriting:

This writer is more concerned with appearances than with any serious intent. The focus is on form rather than on function – on decoration rather than intent.

Of course there is nothing wrong with that.

But take a look at this handwriting:

It may not be decorative but it shows individuality, strength and character.

Do you know whose handwriting that is?  None other than the great psychoanalyst Freud himself. You can read more about his handwriting at Freud and Jung

So where do you fit in? Maybe in-between or somewhere completely off the chart!

It doesn’t really matter. I have just tried to show that pretty handwriting is not the be all and end all of style and desirability.

So if your handwriting is less than pretty – relax. It may just show a bit of individuality!

And by the way, if you are interested in a seeing a light-hearted approach to graphology with lots of handwriting fun for beginners go to Graphology-World.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Signatures are not always the best indicators of personality. They tend to hide rather than reveal information. But Michael Jackson’s signature in its simplicity reveals a lot about him.

It epitomizes the dichotomy in his personality and reveals his inner conflict.

It shows his removal from reality, his insecurity, and his need to be the embodiment of the heroic life he so admired.

Signatures change.

Signatures grow and develop with the changes in our personalities – and this is particularly true in the case of Michael Jackson.

If you take a look at one of his earlier signatures you will see how it started off as being rather simple and practical.

The words are legible and easy to read. Each letter is easily identifiable.

But the following signature is very different and shows a big personality change. Notice how angular it is in comparison with the earlier signature.

Over time Michael Jackson’s signature changed considerably and became a far more delicate, fragile and ethereal expression of his personality.

A very Different Signature

The most striking thing about it is the huge discrepancy between the body of the signature and the soaring upper zone that seemed to touch the stratosphere of his ambitions.

And then note how it plummets from great heights into great depths as well. Depression and euphoria were never far away.

His tragedy was that his real life and his fantasy life could never come together. They were poles apart.

The tiny body of the signature reflects his dissatisfaction with his ordinary, earth-bound self while the soaring upper zone reflects his boundless aspirations. It was all about the things he wanted to do, the things that he still hoped to achieve.

But his aspirations were so high that they caused him to lose touch with reality and inhabit more and more a strange world of fantasy. He poured his whole being into this world of fantasy until it became his reality.

And then look at that great circle which takes centre stage in his signature – the symbolic expression of his attitude to the importance of dance. It’s as if he feels that music and dance can bring it all together.

But Michael Jackson’s amazing success was not only due to his musical and dancing talent. It was a personality thing as well.

His remarkable versatility, his physical, mental and emotional agility, his soaring aspirations and his driving ambition allowed him to become the legend that he was.

A Romantic Vision

We know how this translated into the facts of his life. How he wore outrageous uniforms and changed his physical appearance to fit in with his romantic vision of himself. How his ranch became the embodiment of the life-style he desired and how he named it Neverland after Peter Pan’s fictional home – Never Never Land.

It was the embodiment of his dreams – a place where no-one could grow old and where dreams could blend with reality.

Michael Jackson had never been happy with what he was born to.  So he crafted and honed his appearance, his personality and his whole being in order to become the romantic hero he so aspired to being.

He envisioned himself as a heroic figure like the ones in fairy tales where knights and princes wore wondrous outfits and performed fantastic deeds. He saw himself in the role of a dashing romantic hero who would not use a sword but would use his talents to turn his dreams into reality for his millions of fans.

It’s all in the Signature

All this can be seen in his signature which is the embodiment of his ambitions, his desires – and also his fears. His unusual signature reveals it all.

If you would like to know more about signatures and the messages in handwriting check out The Meaning of Signatures You’ll find it fascinating.

If you found this interesting you may also like the following:

Michael Jackson’s fantastic signature

Celebrity Autographs and Signatures

The Hidden Meaning of Handwriting

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

It’s no secret that handwriting analysis is one of my “Creative Interests!” Writing is another.

Long ago I decided that writing and handwriting analysis went together like the proverbial horse and carriage.

In fact, because handwriting is so personal and so in touch with the human psyche, I thought it would be the ideal subject for my genius project.

Not only that- it’s the perfect medium for linking up with the minds of all kinds of people – even those who lived many centuries ago.

Great! I began by selecting 30 famous geniuses throughout the ages. That was the easy part.

Finding the Handwriting Samples

Finding the handwriting samples was another story. That was much more difficult and took a lot of sleuth work!

But even more difficult was getting permission to use the samples I did find.

I contacted libraries, universities and individuals all over the world. Most of them were charming and helpful – and even interested in my project.

An Irritable Librarian

But there was one irritable university librarian (who shall remain nameless) who wrote back laconically, “you may NOT use the handwriting” (of Niels Bohr I think it was).  And with that another genius’s handwriting hit the dust in my rapidly filling trash basket!

But once I had my brilliant 30 neatly tucked into a genius folder, what a revelation it was!  The handwritings were all so completely different and individualistic. How to find the mark of genius if indeed there was one?

I began to realize that the signs of genius were not so easy to isolate, after all.  Besides, there are so many types of genius to consider.

Walt Disney

For example, Walt Disney was no intellectual from what I could see. To start with, he made atrocious spelling mistakes. And yet he had the most amazing imagination and talent.

His handwriting sample is the most challenging that I have ever come across. I mulled over it for days.

And then of course, Einstein wrote so simply and modestly.  Where was the genius there?

Picasso’s Handwriting

Picasso’s handwriting was also a challenge.  He formed his letters as he wielded his paintbrush – with a confident type of macho independence that seemed to reject every vestige of conventionality. Wild and angry it is filled with an aggressive, ground-breaking creativity.

I could go on and on about these geniuses and their handwritings – but of course, thereby hangs the tale. An exciting one I found, because it taught me so much.

But that, in short, is how “The Mark of Genius“ came about.