Finally, a MYSTERY TRAIT. This strange concave downstroke... what does it mean? Here are emails from a few people:
The general interpretation for concave lower zone strokes is: "The writer is insecure and discouraged, defensive and self-protective ... He may avoid sexual behavior due to fear, uncertainty or inhibitions." * There's also a more specific trait called "lower zone sickle-like" -- that points out to negative
characteristics, such as aggressiveness and resentment. My personal opinion is that the trait you,ve asked for in the writing of S. Black corroborates the
introverted and defensive nature of the writer, and also tells me that there's some anxiety regarding her relationships, all of which is stressing her.
Here are my thoughts on Stephanie Black,s writing. The mystery stroke in "y" in country, I believe is a variation of the teenage "y." The stroke comes down, swings to the left or the past to gain some insight from what she was taught before, then the stroke swings back to the future, with a little hook on the end. It's tenacity in the physical zone. I see it in the middle zone also. So, whatever it is that she has, she does not want to let go of it. As for the t, and l, strokes in her name, to me it looks
consistent with her style of writing, though unusual -- it is consistent. This strange bending of downstrokes does not happen in every downstroke letter. So, why in some t's, and the l's, in "all"? It has that same look of going into the past, then swoosh, into the future until the next letter is made. Obviously, I could make the general statement that there's something in her past that she's trying to deal with, but keeps going back and forth on it. My source is Bart Baggett and the Deluxe Home Study Course. The concave downstroke, does it mean Stephanie is
pregnant or wants to be? I am only guessing this, but she does have the large lower 'g' loops, and is very social. It seems to be a logical guess to me.
Stephanie is most assuredly an introvert, even if she does operate in extroverted capacities. Why an introvert? Look at her usage of space: wide spaces between the words, wide spaces between the lines, disconnections between the letters -- all in all, a visually "airy" picture of space. Extroverted capacities? Overly large and wide
capitals, wide expansion between letters. Stephanie has a tremendous amount of psychic energy, which flows inward rather than outward, backwards rather than
forward -- Back to the Future. The h/w is left trend (to the past) with backhand slant, back strokes, some of which attempt to redirect to the right (future) but cannot go the distance. Look at the f, in "for" (line1); the y, in "country" (line 4). The extreme backhand slant would indicate Stephanie's preoccupation with the past;i.e., mother influences and her rejection of authority; i.e. male/father influences (no right trend). Her emotional development is stuck in early adolescent rebellion issues (don't know her current age), which she is still fiercely protecting.
Now for the MYSTERY STROKE: What you see in Stephanie's l's, (look at "all" in line 2 and "Black" in her signature), as well as the t, in "Stephanie," is referred to as DIRECTIONAL PRESSURE. The letters bend in concave fashion; i.e., hollow from the left (the past), bulging out to the right (the future). This is an AVOIDANCE stance. Imagine yourself standing erect in front of someone who puts a knife or gun to your back. You have an automatic reflex, which bends your body into an avoidance posture. Stephanie has taken such a posture, because even in her zeal to cling to the past -- she is extremely anxious and fearful about it. This is a major conflict, one which prevents her from emotionally standing upright! There is really no comfort to be derived from this. Yet, as Stephanie's self-esteem is really low (overly large, grandiose capitals, small middle zone); and, because she's a pretty defensive gal (lower loops and backstrokes) and inhibited (cover strokes in MZ and LZ ("p" in signature), despite her showy presentation she is experiencing a kind of hysteria from not being able to get her incredible energy moving outward. Looking at the downslant of the text, as well as her signature, Stephanie could be experiencing some depression, which comes with the anxiety territory described above.
Since I have absolutely no clue as to what this means, this is a total shot in the dark. If it was a concave 'T' bar it would mean self-control, so couldn't it still have
something to do with self-control? She floats from FA to BC, maybe she is attempting to curb her outwardness and maintain her FA writing. She may feel she has to stay as emotionally inexpressive as possible and this shows the stress she is going through to hold back.
Again, I could be way off here, but what the hell, I could be dead on.
You have taken a question about the meaning of the concave downstroke. My suggestion is that it means the writer is nervous and has some spinal problem. She is influenced by the past, mother, and he/she is egoist. Everyday mystery is on the left, spiritual mystery is on the top side, so this stroke pulls down into the person,s
everyday life -- this feeling. It can be very difficult to get close to him/her. I hope you like my answer. Sorry for my mistakes, but I am not English.
**** Bart's thoughts...
I think they are all very creative and well thought out answers. Because it is soooo unusual, I don't claim to have the answer. I actually can't say any one is dead wrong. But, if push comes to shove, I would tend to side with Anita Beckenstein on the meaning of the concave mystery stroke. Her interpretation works well when you take the rest of the writing into consideration.
The only part of her analysis I don't completely agree with is her statement that says Steph has a low self-esteem because of the big capital in her name and small middle zone. I will agree she has many insecurities and they will get bundled as self-esteem issues, but in my experience a large capital boost the ego (not self-esteem, just ego) and the size of the middle zone will relate to her social appetite, not her esteem. Her t- bars are generally crosses above average, so I will weigh in on the "practical " to average self-esteem with many, many issues relating to trust, intimacy, fear of criticism, etc. It all get thrown in together, doesn't it?