The Gift of Cursive Handwriting
My high school English teacher impressed the value of keeping a journal. I didn’t enjoy it then. It seemed tedious trying to think up topics to write about on a daily basis. Forty-five years later, I still have that journal. And lots of others I have penned over the years.
Thirteen years ago I took a course from Vimala Rodgers who taught me how to use handwriting as a tool. I learned firsthand through daily handwriting practice just how transformational this technology is. Through taking on two or three Alphabet Letters at a time, writing them daily for forty day cycles, subtle shifts in my approach to life became the corroborating evidence that handwriting truly does reflect the way we think and vice versa. Where there were problems, I began to see solutions. Discouragement lost to acknowledging my own personal choices. I was empowered to find resolve. What was changing were my attitudes, and that made all the difference.
Later I learned from mentoring others and was amazed at the strides they made in their own lives after taking on a couple 40-day cycles with selected letters for their own particular situations.
We all view the world through filters. Our worldview is seen through a lens tinted with our opinions, judgments, values. And we’ve acquired these “tints” imperceptibly over time. Little things said when we were a child. The adopted views of well-meaning parents, teachers, friends. Our own misunderstandings. Our own experiences — both positive and negative, play into the field of our unfiltered perceptions. Seamlessly these opinions about ourselves and about life are woven into the fabric of our thinking. We tend to approach life with a bias. Our beliefs lead the way. What if we could capture the capacity to think in terms of what’s possible? Replacing ‘can’t’ with ‘how?‘ Rather than ‘won’t work,’ think ‘modify.’
The gift of the Vimala Handwriting System™ is that we can utilize cursive handwriting as a transformational tool for personal growth. We can practice letters that support our thinking patterns and the way we interact in all areas of our life. This begs the question, “Why aren’t children taught healthy handwriting habits in school?” It would be such a gift to teach and to learn a handwriting system that promotes innovative thinking and self-esteem from an early age.
The greatest gift anyone can give a child is to teach him or her how to read and write. These are two sides of one skill set, integrally woven together. Together they are foundational, not just to literacy, more importantly to self-worth and self-determination.
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