August 30th, 2010 
Sandra 
Darwin has been featured in a lot of books and documentaries recently in honour of his birthday 200 years ago – he was born in February 1809.
And of course there have been countless photographs of Darwin – most of them with severe expressions – like this one.
I’ve always thought that because the Photographs of Darwin seem so formal and posed they maintained the 200 year distance between us.
Somehow, they reveal very little about the man, himself. Read more »
August 20th, 2010 Sandra 
I’ve always loved Chopin’s music – there is something appealing about it that speaks directly to me.
It’s sensitive, melodic and so highly refined.
Now this year happens to be the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth and while I was listening to his second piano concerto – 2nd movement (I love that) I thought I would check out his handwriting too.
So off I went to find a sample of Chopin’s handwriting.
As soon as I saw this particular handwriting sample I laughed out loud. I really couldn’t help myself.
There I was thinking that he was this gentle, cultured, ascetic, highly sensitive soul. But what did I see in his handwriting? Read more »
August 16th, 2010 Sandra 
Tolkien, writer of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings was the father of modern fantasy literature.
Born in South Africa in 1892 he was educated in England and became professor of Anglo-Saxon, English language and literature at Oxford.
Tolkien’s books were undoubtedly inspired by his fascination with the early literature of Old and Middle English.
He had an amazing grasp of language and was known as one of the best philologists in the world. In fact, he invented a special Celtic-style language for the characters in his books.
He even invented a whole new mythological world as a setting for “Lord of the Rings.” His imagination and creativity were boundless.
Tolkien’s books “The Hobbit” and “The lord of the Rings” were in fact the forerunner of a complete new genre of modern fantasy literature – they even led to a new class of games such as Dungeons and Dragons and that hugely popular game World of Warcraft.
So what made Tolkien tick? Read more »
July 22nd, 2010 Sandra 
If you need attention or if you have a need to be noticed what does it really mean?
Is it just a shallow desire to show off a new outfit?
Or is it a desire to show how clever or talented you are?
Maybe it embraces all these things and more. But in reality it’s a ploy for recognition because we all have a basic need to be recognized.
However, what happens if we dig a little deeper – what do we find?
Insecurity.
A cry in the dark that says; “please notice me because I also count in the scheme of things.”
Very often the cry goes unnoticed. And it is then that out of frustration we feel we have to do something about it. Read more »
July 12th, 2010 Sandra 
The need for attention runs deep within each of us. It starts early in childhood and if it is not sufficiently met with love it can persist throughout our lives.
The need for attention can manifest in strange ways and sometimes it takes on bizarre forms.
Right now, countless people everywhere are crying out for attention.
They dress outlandishly, put rings in the most unlikely places and tattoos all over their bodies.
They get onto stages and sing out their desperation to the unseen millions who clamour to listen to them and identify with them.
What is it that all these millions have in common? Read more »
July 8th, 2010 Sandra 
In my post about private fears I promised to talk about some of the fears that we can identify in handwriting. So here is one of them – “The inability to assert yourself.”
This can be a rather debilitating trait because it tends to weaken and dis-empower you.
Once you are able to identify it you will see quite clearly how this is indeed a fear and how it can hold people back from achieving their goals.
The inability to assert yourself is a fear that comes in many guises and it can have several repercussions.
So what does it mean if you can’t assert yourself? Read more »
