Nicole (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trickykitty) wrote2012-01-17 11:21 am
trickykitty) wrote2012-01-17 11:21 am
Entry tags:
The Writing On The Wall
[W]e assemble our personalities unevenly, piece by piece, almost robotically, from models we admire.
I get told on a regular basis that I have really pretty handwriting. I also get told how lucky I am to have such pretty handwriting. The truth is, luck had nothing to do with it.
Back in my late elementary and junior high days I tended to OD on black & white classic movies on AMC and TCM. There was something about a good old movie that I really enjoyed. At some point I started paying attention to the calligraphy styled lettering that was used for the opening and closing credits for most of these movies. The flourishes were beautiful. I decided that I wanted my handwriting to be as pretty as that.
I would take a sheet of paper and repeat writing the alphabet in upper and lower case, specifically making sure that the letters A-M were on the first row and N-Z were on the second. Sometimes I would write Aa Bb Cc, and sometimes I would write A B C, then a b c. Sometimes the entire page would be all caps or all lower case. If there was a particular letter that I didn't like how it looked, I would write it over and over again on it's own page before continuing with the alphabet page. In this manner, I can say I probably wrote out the alphabet easily thousands of times.
I'm very proud of my handwriting, because I know the work that went into it. I also know from where I borrowed the ideas for it.
In late elementary school I went to Six Flags with a friend from my after-school program. I thought she was really cool. While walking around I noticed at one point that she was walking a certain way, and I thought to myself, "That must be how the cool people walk." I adopted the walk and started using it when out in places like at the mall with my parents.
Mom took notice of my change in gait and asked me about it. This embarrassed me, but I tried to play it off with, "Don't I look cool?" She said, "No. You look like someone trying to walk up a hill when there's no hill."
I suddenly recalled that the spot we were in at Six Flags when I noticed my friend's walking was a pretty steep hill - a steep hill that we were walking up. I stopped walking that way.
That same friend and I had to lay down on the floor and rest during one of our summer days at day care. I was uncomfortable and not sure where to put my arms. I looked over and saw how my friend had tucked her arms next to her chest area while laying on her stomach. I did the same, and you know what? It's comfortable, and I still do that today when I'm laying on my stomach in bed on a cold day.
If I sit here reminiscing long enough, I can probably tell you where most of my behavior habits came from. Most were knowingly adopted from here and there as I observed them, adopted them, put them through trial and error practices, and finally settled on adopting or abandoning them. I think this is the normal mimicry process that all people go through, but I have a distinct knowledge of the origins for a good many of my own.
I get told on a regular basis that I have really pretty handwriting. I also get told how lucky I am to have such pretty handwriting. The truth is, luck had nothing to do with it.
Back in my late elementary and junior high days I tended to OD on black & white classic movies on AMC and TCM. There was something about a good old movie that I really enjoyed. At some point I started paying attention to the calligraphy styled lettering that was used for the opening and closing credits for most of these movies. The flourishes were beautiful. I decided that I wanted my handwriting to be as pretty as that.
I would take a sheet of paper and repeat writing the alphabet in upper and lower case, specifically making sure that the letters A-M were on the first row and N-Z were on the second. Sometimes I would write Aa Bb Cc, and sometimes I would write A B C, then a b c. Sometimes the entire page would be all caps or all lower case. If there was a particular letter that I didn't like how it looked, I would write it over and over again on it's own page before continuing with the alphabet page. In this manner, I can say I probably wrote out the alphabet easily thousands of times.
I'm very proud of my handwriting, because I know the work that went into it. I also know from where I borrowed the ideas for it.
In late elementary school I went to Six Flags with a friend from my after-school program. I thought she was really cool. While walking around I noticed at one point that she was walking a certain way, and I thought to myself, "That must be how the cool people walk." I adopted the walk and started using it when out in places like at the mall with my parents.
Mom took notice of my change in gait and asked me about it. This embarrassed me, but I tried to play it off with, "Don't I look cool?" She said, "No. You look like someone trying to walk up a hill when there's no hill."
I suddenly recalled that the spot we were in at Six Flags when I noticed my friend's walking was a pretty steep hill - a steep hill that we were walking up. I stopped walking that way.
That same friend and I had to lay down on the floor and rest during one of our summer days at day care. I was uncomfortable and not sure where to put my arms. I looked over and saw how my friend had tucked her arms next to her chest area while laying on her stomach. I did the same, and you know what? It's comfortable, and I still do that today when I'm laying on my stomach in bed on a cold day.
If I sit here reminiscing long enough, I can probably tell you where most of my behavior habits came from. Most were knowingly adopted from here and there as I observed them, adopted them, put them through trial and error practices, and finally settled on adopting or abandoning them. I think this is the normal mimicry process that all people go through, but I have a distinct knowledge of the origins for a good many of my own.