ABSTRACT
It is hard to know when the idea of becoming a therapist first began. It seemed as if I always had an interest in learning about people. I recall that one of my first experiences in trying to systematically understand the people around me took place when I was in fifth grade. I had purchased a paperback book on handwriting analysis at the local library's used book sale; it probably cost 5 or 10 cents. Fifth grade was the point when we were expected to write in cursive, and I was fascinated seeing the different handwriting styles of my friends. I wondered if these different styles represented something about their personalities. I brought a handful of blank paper to my all-girls physical education class and asked each person to write a sentence. I collected the papers and then used my newly purchased book on handwriting analysis to try to understand more about each of them. At the end of the school year, I asked them to write another sentence and was able to compare it to the first. I was astounded to see how much some of them had changed! Of course, I didn't take into account that my friends in the physical education class were experimenting with their handwriting at the time. They would first slant one way and then the next. Sometimes the “dot” over an “i” would become a bubble or a heart. Sometimes, they would write in black pen, sometimes in peacock blue pen, and other times in pencil. I would ask myself, “What did it all mean?” I would once again consult my little paperback book on handwriting analysis, but did not find that it gave me the definitive answers I sought.
