It’s National Handwriting Day! What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Posted by Blair Thornburgh

In this age of touch tablets and smart watches and phone cameras, National Handwriting Day might seem kind of quaint: oh yeah, that thing we used to do by gripping a writing implement tightly between our bony hand-extremities and scrawling out glyphs to our fellow humans.

But handwriting is here to stay! Thumb-typing is dandy, but paper is handy…er. (Face it: when it comes to jotting quick notes, something about thinly sliced dried tree pulp is just timeless and irresistible.) And whether it’s on a post-it, a grocery list, a cocktail napkins, or handsome leatherbound journal, the letters you shape and the way you shape them can reveal hidden facets of your personality.

Ready to unlock the secrets of your psyche? Write on:

If your handwriting is “messy” or “illegible”…

…you’re a slob. Clean up your act!

 

If your handwriting is excellent, Palmer-method penmanship…

…you’re a show-off. What, do you think you’re BETTER than us?

 

If your handwriting is made out of decorative gel frosting…

…you probably work at a bakery, I’m guessing!

 

If your handwriting is backwards, and in Italian…

…Congratulations, you're Leonardo Da Vinci! I loved you in The Great Gatsby!

 

If your handwriting looks like this

…wait, actually, then you’re Leonardo DiCaprio. Congratulations, and sorry for occasionally mixing you up with the Renaissance polymath!

 

If your handwriting is a series of untranslated glyphs pressed into a clay tablet…

…you’re a member of the lost Minoan civilization of Crete. Call your nearest anthropologist and help her translate Linear A; I bet she’d really appreciate it!

 

If your handwriting consists of a bunch of cut-and-pasted letters…

…you’re committing blackmail. THE POLICE HAVE BEEN ALERTED. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FLEE.

 

If your handwriting is scribbly and in chalk…

…you’re a scientific mastermind on the brink of a discovery and/or a nervous breakdown!

If your handwriting is insanely, intricately illuminated…

…you’re a monk on the Isle of Lindisfarne! Watch out for Vikings 😉

 

If your handwriting is actually a series of rocks lined up on a beach to spell out letters…

…you’re probably trapped on a desert island. Bummer! (And how are you reading this blog post, BTW?)

Blair Thornburgh

Blair Thornburgh

BLAIR THORNBURGH is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she earned a B.A. in medieval studies and delivered a pretty good commencement speech. She lives in Philadelphia.