The Imprint of Determination: A Reflection on Pressure, Purpose and Stories We Leave Behind

I’ve told this story a hundred times, but today, I want to share it through a slightly different lens.

It was one of those moments when the ground shifts beneath your feet. My team and I had just been declared redundant. We had three months. just three, to figure out what came next. In that whirlwind, I found myself stepping into a phase that demanded bravery. There was no room for fear, not with so many eyes looking to me for direction. I threw myself into action, determined to ensure that every team member found a place where their skills would be valued. And, somehow, we all made it through...with what seemed “the best possible outcome” in that moment..

Much later, as I was flipping through the pages of my old diary, pages filled with frantic notes, heated discussions, and endless meeting summaries...I noticed something curious. The words I’d written had left deep impressions on the blank pages beneath. When I ran my fingers across the surface, I could feel the ripples and waves, like tiny gravel scattered across the paper. There were double underlines beneath the names of key people and important dates, boxes drawn around action items, and big, bold question marks beside open questions. It made me pause. What had come over me, to write with such force, such determination?

Looking back, I realise now that our handwriting often mirrors what’s happening inside us. The pressure of the pen, the boldness of the strokes, the way the letters lean or stand tall…these are more than just habits. They’re silent signals of our state of mind. In those months, every word I wrote was charged with urgency and resolve. I noticed myself double-underlining the names of key people and important dates, almost as if I was trying to anchor myself to what truly mattered. Boxes appeared around action items, drawn with a heavy hand, as if I needed to contain and protect those tasks from the chaos swirling around me. And then there were the big, bold question marks, sometimes so forceful they left an imprint on the next page, marking every uncertainty, every open question that kept me up at night. The heavy pressure wasn’t just about ink on paper; it was about the weight of responsibility I felt, the drive to protect my team, and the need to keep moving forward when everything felt uncertain.

It’s fascinating how, when we’re under stress or facing big changes, our writing can shift in ways we don’t always notice at the time. Sometimes, the lines get darker, the letters larger or more angular, as if we’re trying to assert control or make our presence felt. Other times, the script grows smaller, more controlled, as if we’re trying to contain the chaos. My diary became a canvas for all these emotions…boxes for tasks I couldn’t afford to forget, double underlines for people I needed to support or nudge them for support, and question marks for the unknowns that loomed ahead. I didn’t know it then, but my diary was quietly recording not just my thoughts, but my emotions too…etched into every page, leaving behind a physical imprint of the determination and anxiety that shaped those days.

There’s something deeply human about this. We all leave traces of ourselves behind, not just in what we say or do, but in the way we express ourselves, sometimes unconsciously. The next time you find yourself scribbling notes in a meeting or jotting down your thoughts at the end of a long day, take a moment to notice the pressure of your pen, the flow of your words. You might be surprised by what you discover about yourself.

In the end, those ripples on the page became a reminder: even in the toughest times, our determination leaves a mark 😊 sometimes literally. And sometimes, it’s only when we look back that we truly see the strength it took to keep writing, to keep going, and to keep believing in the story yet to unfold.

If this piece of the story intrigued you, you want to check out our upcoming program…Graphology for Workplace Wellbeing: Understanding Stress Patterns Through Writing (https://www.growithsatori.com/courses/Graphology-for-Workplace-Wellbeing-Understanding-Stress-Patterns-Through-Writing-6944e06732a3b421cac73723)