“This is good/ that is bad, he is pleasant/ she is not, this one has a good taste in things/ but that one does not… we’re full of such binary opinions. Our ideas, beliefs, and attitudes make us who we are but they severely restrict us too. For a long time, my preconceived notions have restricted me from exploring diverse perspectives, new domains, and for that matter even engaging with people with very different interests. We all will agree that such a worldview is one-sided and further away from objectivity. Not to mention how miserably it limits our life experiences.

As beginners in graphology, it is quite common to develop some sort of a superiority complex. After all, it gives us the ability to peek into another’s strengths, flaws, past and present by simply looking at their writing. Here the judgemental mind begins to place red and green flags all over a given writing sample. But do you think a perpetual background voice of “This is good/ that is bad” is bearable? This background voice does not even exclude our near and dear ones; should we still allow it space in our mind? Don’t worry, there’s an organic antidote to that.

The beauty of learning graphology is that we begin to dig deeper into ourselves simultaneously. We start encountering the angels and demons within ourselves. And when we understand the ‘whys’ of our personality traits, especially the ones we don’t embrace wholeheartedly, we grow in empathy. This much-needed ‘reality check’ of ourselves urges us to extend empathy towards others and the story of their lives too. Our black and white perspective of others comes to life with colours. We start seeing the good in the bad and the bad in the good, and every handwriting sample and every person we’ve ever met starts looking like a yin-yang. Such an approach also enables us to analyse handwriting in a judgment-free manner.

With the power of knowledge, also comes responsibility. This responsibility is an obligation to use the gained knowledge wisely, ethically, and for the benefit of others. With respect to handwriting analysis, it entails developing an objective mindset, sharing knowledge responsibly, and considering the potential consequences of the analysis we give to a client. Empathy plays a key role while performing live handwriting analysis because if we can step into the other person’s shoes, we can make the analysis more relatable to them.

As far as our worldview as graphologists goes, unbiasedness begins to tint our spectacles little by little. We learn to see things objectively! Eventually, we start realising that life is rarely without imperfections. And that is the very secret to its beauty!