Why I Changed My Signature
I analyzed my signature the other day by piecing together information from various websites I found via Google. What it revealed was actually quite spot-on — if this were “2016 me”. I was no longer the person I was retaining in my penmanship. I was no longer someone who was so critical of themselves that they incidentally backstroked their own name. I am no longer the secluded individual shrouded in mystery that my signature said I was. In fact, I’m quite the opposite these days. I’ve even gained a few emotional intelligence skill points. It was time to finalize my steps into becoming the next major-released version of myself, and I realized altering my signature was a great way to get there.
Your signature is not just strokes. It is an in-depth story. Just from looking at a signature, you can perceive whether someone has a strained relationship with their father, an over-indulgence issue, is quite secretive, or is trustworthy with your secrets. Your selfishness, optimism, temperament, energy, arrogance, friendliness, and self-perception can all be understood from your signature. And I didn’t like what mine said about me, because it pointed at who I already stopped being and furthermore it made me feel as if I was subconsciously still holding onto those negative traits.
I now think of my signature as a contract with myself. This is not only who I want the world to see me as, but who I want to be and put forth in my daily efforts. When you want your signature to say you’re humble, friendly, and detail-oriented, every time you write it, you are instilling those values deeper within yourself. It becomes you because you are making a conscious effort to envision those values each time you write it. The energy you give off manifests within and you align closer with your core values.
I thought about all the positive attributes of signature elements and what they meant, as I comprised a list of values I have been focused on;
- Humbleness
- Calmness
- Selflessness
- Carefulness
- Positivity
- Optimism
- Transparency
- Love
- Wealth (a girl can dream…)
To be humble, the variance in size between your capital letters should not be of grandeur magnitude. Your strokes should also be limited to a functional, yet tasteful appeal without extravagance in the form of extra loops. When your capital letters are vastly greater in size than the rest of your letters, it is an easy indication of arrogance, an inclination for attention-seeking behavior, and boastfulness. Your signature shouldn’t be centered on a line, for it gives off the idea that you are attention seeking.
To be calm, your signature should not be pointed, but appear as the waves of an ocean. Fluidity can also be indicated by adequate spacing between each letter and a lighter pressure of the pen. Your signature should not look rushed, because people who are too busy for a signature are seldom calm.
To be selfless, a signature should not be crammed together. There should be spacing between the first, middle, and last names.
To be positive, a signature should have an upward tilt or be visually level. The signature should also not be ‘bottom-heavy’. Signatures that indicate strong morals have proportional placements. The capital letters should all appear relatively the same size, The taller lowercase letters should reach the same height of the capital letters. Crosses on your t’s that are mid-height or slightly above will indicate that you are a person who makes healthy goals.
To be optimistic, a signature should curve upwards at the end and slant right. Your signature should not be too left, which can indicate someone who lives in the past.
To be transparent, a signature should be fully legible, and all a’s should be closed. The saying, dot your i’s and cross your t’s, is very valid in this situation. Your signature should have adequate spacing and balanced letter spacing.
To be loving, a signature should have open loops, but not overly so. Your signature also shouldn’t end with a line at the end. It indicates that you are intentionally distanced from others and don’t like to be close to people.
Bonus: An indicator of wealth is how open the y’s in a signature are. I don’t have any y’s in my name, but when I write them, I keep it in mind.
As I work on transforming my signature, each time, I carry with me the feeling of these nine values and I get a small burst of joy thinking about how I’m becoming more mindful towards attaining them. A signature is more than a scribble. It is a summary of you, so it’s only forgery of yourself if you don’t believe in the principles and values you’ve set behind achieving a great signature. What you want that summary to be is completely up to you. Just because your signature might have warning flags or no-no’s, doesn’t mean you can’t evolve and therefore improve your outlook. It also might mean you’ve already evolved and perform the same signature out of operating on sheer muscle memory. I believe every person is capable of change, and our signatures are evident of that.
