I very much enjoyed this, thank you Rebecca. Although I am not mostly neuro-typical, I have many quirks that mean I rarely process things like the majority. Sometimes it's good, mostly it slows me down. I still can't tell right from left without having to do a convoluted exercise in my head, going through my mother tongue first, then English, knowing that my default position is almost always getting left and right the other way round. The writing hand method doesn't help anymore, I type-badly, but still-with both hands, thinking I'm going to trick myself by quickly going against my instinct, well, even that doesn't work flawlessly...But I used to work with youngsters with many varied neuro-diverse needs, and it allowed me to appreciate how very badly equipped we are as a society, to support them (also how fantastic their creative skills could be.) I particularly love that you are doing your bit 💚
Also, I thought I was quite organised in one thing, and only that one, but seeing your fridge list, I clearly have so much to learn!!
I struggle so much with remembering, never mind recognising, which way's north and south etc, but left and right are somehow built-in. I have friends who, as a couple, are always in the habit of him driving, her navigating - and they use the terms 'my side' and 'your side' to identify left and right on every journey - it's a cool workaround which works for them!
My life changed when I came up with my fridge list - or The Kitchen Page, as I call it. You can read more about it here - and download it (free!), if you'd like to use it yourself! https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/36-the-kitchen-page
Thank you Rebecca, that’s marvellous, I shall go and check it out!
I tend to use “up North “ for any places away from Kent, but east and west need more attention…! Also struggling with numbers, anything above a few thousands and my poor little brain switches off! On the flip side I can usually describe or remember with pretty good accuracy someone’s facial features, the emotional stories they shared , the stuff I’m interested in really. How are you with numbers? I used to think that we either mastered words or numbers but it’s more nuanced than that perhaps.
That's really interesting - I've never really thought about how my brain handles numbers, but I'm certainly not gifted in that department! Like you I'm good at recognising people and their contexts - which is something that I know my husband struggles with. We divide and conquer in this house - I do words and remembering who's who, while he does the tech stuff and tries (in vain) to train me in not getting lost!
I really enjoyed this re-read Rebecca. It reminded me of my granddad - he was born left handed but was forced to write with the right hand . I’m so grateful we live in a world where we don’t have to physically stifle our differences like that anymore !
Awww Camille, thank you for reading it again! It's horrid, isn't it, how people would be 'corrected' away from their left-handedness? Your poor granddad - I can only imagine how disorientating that must have been for him as a child. 😕
I wish he was around still so I could ask him more questions about it ! It’s funny how things like that leave a mark- he had the most beautiful penmanship , right-handed, and even went on to teach grammar to young children 😊
In snowboarding, people who mount the board with their right foot forward, left foot back, are called “goofy-footed”--also not a compliment. I’ll look forward to another column in which you spin tales of your sinister foot, and all that society does to thwart you that way. OTOH, it’s good to be in the aristocracy of handed/footed-ness, as you and Barack well understand!
'My sinister foot' needs to be a book title, Peter! If I were to snowboard or skateboard (I don't, and am unlikely to ever do so!), I'd certainly be on the goofy side, because I'm very much left-footed as well as -handed! 🛹
Another lovely read. My sister was initially left-handed until repeated use of a ruler by a nun convinced her to write with her right hand. Her preference is still to do everything else left-handed but writing remains the role of the right hand.
Hoping that things settle down a little this week. Sending heaps of hugs and best wishes. 🤗🤗😘😘
Gosh, that's an interesting twist! Maybe it's to leave your right hand free for catching?! I have to say that I have a pretty poor aim with my left hand when I throw things - perhaps I'll give my right hand a go!
Enjoyed reading this, Rebecca. I am a lefty, but was coerced to change when young., I still do many things with my left hand better than with my right. Like eating. I write sloppily with both hands. My left hand is better at things requiring finesse whereas my right is better for strength. Adapting was always awkward but I also think it must good be for the brain. That being said, I remember the effort it took to adapt. Thanks for writing!
Thank you so much, James! How horrid that you weren't allowed to be left-handed when you were young. I eat with my fork in my left hand, and have always found it odd that right-handers tend to switch the side they hold their fork if they're using ONLY a fork, not a knife and fork. My right-handed husband, though, is an exception, and always keeps his fork (or spoon) in his left.
The finesse thing is very interesting - and how you prefer your right hand for things requiring strength. I do most things left-handed, but if I were ever to play cricket, golf or hockey again, I'd hold the bat/club/stick right-handed.
I remember reading this the first time, and it is still full of impact. Like, I suspect, many right-handers, I had never appreciated how difficult life can be for left-handed people. And I think it's terrible the way some children were forced to use their right hand, as some of the comments here illustrate, and which I knew from my reading.
The comic 2000AD has a character called Sinister Dexter, and the meaning (Right Left) had never occurred to me until now!
May I also say, Rebecca, that in the year I've come to know you since reading this post, which may in fact have been the first one of yours I ever read, and having read many more of your articles, your comments and of course your letters to me, I've really come to appreciate why people in the middle ages might have thought left-handed people were witches. 😍
I don't know whether to chortle or cackle, Terry! Thank you for the witchcraft compliment! 🤣
Fabulous to learn about the character Sinister Dexter - that's brilliant! (I'm almost tempted not to tell you that you've got your translation the wrong way round!) 😉
I think left-handers - well, if I'm anything to go by - are resigned to the fact that to a certain extent they need to adapt to the world around them, and the fact that most things are engineered to cater for the majority.
Jackie Bridgen - who writes Smallholder Journal - left this brilliant comment on the first edition of this post:
"There was a lot of controversy over King Charles' stroppy behaviour when the inkwell got in his way, at his official accession.....
However.
What really made us smile was Prince William. Having watched his father get in a right two and eight about the fact that the inkwell was *in his way* he followed on with a distinct look of 'hold my beer - I'm left handed mate, everything's in my way permanently' and managed to sign the thing at a properly weird angle with nowhere on earth to put his elbow, and no fuss at all."
I'm so thankful for this re-post as it predates my recent subscription! So many lefties I know are artist/creative types, and I wonder if there is a correlation.
Thanks, Jen - I'm so glad you enjoyed the read! I think there is a correlation with creativity, but in my research for this post (not used because the post was soooooooo much longer when I did!) about left- and right-brained attributes of right- and left-handers, and discussing the question of whether left-handers are in fact more creative. It turns out that there isn't a study in which that has been shown, but it has been shown that it IS the case that people who are more dextrous (I don't mean that as in right-biased, but just as in, well, good with their hands) are more creative regardless of their handedness, meaning that it's their dexterity that is the point at hand, rather than the left/right debate. I can't help but think that at least some of it is hard-wired to handedness, though. 🤔
I enjoyed reading this again Rebecca! Left-handers definitely have a disadvantage. As far as the percentages of people who are left-handed, I never really thought about it.
I know how you feel about unforeseen circumstances. It seems like I have that every week. 🤣
I Love the post! I have, over the years in solidarity with my lefty fam and friends, tried to do things with my non-dominant hand, to the point I have become ambidextrous at certain things. I can write backward perfectly with my left hand while my other hand is writing toward the right. Try holding a crayon between your big toe and your second toe in both feet and on a large sheet of paper write your name. Your non-dominant hand and foot will automatically mirror.
I have a cousin who is a fraternal twin and he is a lefty to his sister’s being a righty. My boyfriend from a hundred years ago is also a lefty. I like it when we sit side by each at a restaurant--me on the right and he on my left--our elbows don’t get in each other’s way. When we used to dance, we’d take turns leading.
When I did house painting, I could paint equally well up high on a ladder with both hands, switching off seamlessly. It saved me having to get down to move the ladder constant. When I drive my car, I am much more comfortable steering on long straight roadways with my left hand. Using my right just feels awkward. I also learned that when we go down a street or out an unfamiliar door, we want to turn toward our dominant side. I have gotten lost so many times turning right when I should have gone left, not to mention the many closets and boiler rooms I have ended up in coming out of an unfamiliar bathroom.
OH, and since I broke my right femur resulting in an accidental hip replacement, I now lead with my left foot.
But some days I just can’t make up my mind--So I guess there is a little bit of gauche in those of us who were born under the sign of Libra. Yes, it’s a thing.
Wow, Gail, I love your approach to solidarity with the left-handed around you!
I'm going to have a go at the toe thing!
I always like to sit on the right of people, too - not just because of 'jogging' anyone else who's writing, but because it feels much more natural to look to the left than to the right. And I'd never thought about dancing - that's really interesting! At school (it was all girls) we sometimes had dancing lessons, and I was always, always the man, because I am exceptionally tall. So - for my gender - I can literally only dance backwards! 🤣
If I'm steering with one hand, it'll be my right - but that kind of makes sense over here anyway, because I need my left for changing gear.
When I lived in Germany I really struggled to drive - up until that point I'd felt very lucky that UK cars seem to be designed for left-handers (gearstick, handbrake, dashboard controls, all located in the middle of the car, so on my left) - and being behind the wheel of a left-hand drive car was not only unfamiliar but also contrary to my handedness 'wiring'! 🤣
I'm a right-handed tea drinker - but that makes perfect sense, because it leaves my left hand free to be doing other stuff at the same time. I also hold my phone in my right hand for the same reason - obviously if I need to take notes on my call I have to keep my left hand free for that.
Oh my, I hadn’t thought about the shifting part. I would feel so totally out of my element if I had to drive in the UK. Just riding on our little tour bus in Scotland sitting behind the driver scared the bejeezus outta me!
I’m fairly tall too at 5’9”, and all the boys that wanted to dance with me at school barely came up to between my breasts! I always envied the short girls who all the basketball players seemed attracted to.
And 3 of my 4 husbands were all barely my height or shorter. #2 was almost two inches taller. But that relationship lasted the shortest amount of time. 😜
LOL - I can just imagine you on that tour bus feeling that you were on the wrong side of the road!
I was so lucky when I found Jim - not that I chose him for his height - he's nearly 6'5" to my just-over 6'. I remember an early boyfriend once stopping on the stairs and turn back to kiss me - I was on the step below - and it felt SO odd to be suddenly kissing somebody taller than me (which was only the fault of the stairs, of course!).
His 6'8" nephew has just got married to a lovely girl who's 5'2"! I'm delighted for them both - they're a really super couple - but at the same time I'm feeling rather sorry for a tall single girl out there with one less tall chap available to be able to choose from! 😉🤣
I'm glad you reposted this Rebecca as I wasn't around to read it the first time! I loved it. My dad and brother are left handed and I used to wonder as a kid why I wasn't and try to write with my left hand but to no avail 😂
And also, I can't wait to read the story of your race next week 💜
Thanks, Lyndsay! I love that you tried to be like your dad and brother - that's absolutely gorgeous!
And yay - thank you! I've been enjoying drafting that post, and am looking forward to publishing it! 🏃🏻 I'm sad not to have had the opportunity to finish it yet!
Thanks so much for bringing this back, Rebecca. As a left-hander myself, I feel your pain. This was beautifully detailed - both tragic and hilarious. I cracked up at this: "It’s for that reason that I’ll never forget the first time my friends and I discovered that gesture for ‘LOSER’. Yup, that one." and the absolutely adorable photo of a quintessential left-handed loser. I loved this piece.
One more thought, Rebecca. I carryout "small" motor skills like writing, eating, sewing, brushing my teeth, with my left hand. Trying to do them with my right is laughable. However, I naturally carry out most larger movements with my right hand- throwing a baseball, bowling, sweeping, stirring a pot, scrubbing a car. Is this true for you as well? I wonder if others experience the same...
Wow, that's really interesting - I've never really thought about it! I think I use my left for most tasks - certainly all of those you've listed here. I'm going to observe how I do things today and will report back if I am right-dominant in anything! The only things I can think of right now are golf/cricket/hockey, where I would certainly hold the club/bat/stick right-handed.
✋Lefty here! So wonderful you shared this piece again, Rebecca. I remember struggling with spiral bound notebooks, ink mess on the side of my palm and the way my arm felt tired after an exam because there were no lefty chairs. I taught myself to write with my right hand during my senior year in high school and throughout college. So I guess I’m ambidextrous. But, I still do things with left like eating with chopsticks, playing with a tennis racket, eating with one utensil. Will always be a lefty at heart ❤️
Thanks, Stella! I've been known to use notebooks upside down - even starting at the back - for just that reason! And yes - those chairs with the flap-down attached tables on the WRONG side - I'd have to turn the chair 90° so that the table would be in front of me rather than the side.
I'm so impressed that you taught yourself to write with your right hand. Hey, I might have a go. Actually, I DID do some right-handed art recently - when I was having fun drawing those beach pebbles last month I was exploring getting really random patterns using a very thick 8b pencil in my right hand instead of my left. https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/85-too-many-treasures
Good move with the steno pads! I think we call those 'shorthand notebooks ' - the ones in portrait format, with the spiral at the top, right?
Sounds like we have plenty in common! And yes - that 'Loser' sign - I was devastated when that was pointed out to me that first time! 🤣
If I ever did stand-up comedy (no, I have no plans to!) I'd love to deliver this one-liner:
'I'm left-handed, which just makes me a loser'.
Cue 'L' gesture to audience with left hand. I'd bring the house down! 😆
I very much enjoyed this, thank you Rebecca. Although I am not mostly neuro-typical, I have many quirks that mean I rarely process things like the majority. Sometimes it's good, mostly it slows me down. I still can't tell right from left without having to do a convoluted exercise in my head, going through my mother tongue first, then English, knowing that my default position is almost always getting left and right the other way round. The writing hand method doesn't help anymore, I type-badly, but still-with both hands, thinking I'm going to trick myself by quickly going against my instinct, well, even that doesn't work flawlessly...But I used to work with youngsters with many varied neuro-diverse needs, and it allowed me to appreciate how very badly equipped we are as a society, to support them (also how fantastic their creative skills could be.) I particularly love that you are doing your bit 💚
Also, I thought I was quite organised in one thing, and only that one, but seeing your fridge list, I clearly have so much to learn!!
Thanks so much, Mya!
I struggle so much with remembering, never mind recognising, which way's north and south etc, but left and right are somehow built-in. I have friends who, as a couple, are always in the habit of him driving, her navigating - and they use the terms 'my side' and 'your side' to identify left and right on every journey - it's a cool workaround which works for them!
My life changed when I came up with my fridge list - or The Kitchen Page, as I call it. You can read more about it here - and download it (free!), if you'd like to use it yourself! https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/36-the-kitchen-page
Thank you Rebecca, that’s marvellous, I shall go and check it out!
I tend to use “up North “ for any places away from Kent, but east and west need more attention…! Also struggling with numbers, anything above a few thousands and my poor little brain switches off! On the flip side I can usually describe or remember with pretty good accuracy someone’s facial features, the emotional stories they shared , the stuff I’m interested in really. How are you with numbers? I used to think that we either mastered words or numbers but it’s more nuanced than that perhaps.
That's really interesting - I've never really thought about how my brain handles numbers, but I'm certainly not gifted in that department! Like you I'm good at recognising people and their contexts - which is something that I know my husband struggles with. We divide and conquer in this house - I do words and remembering who's who, while he does the tech stuff and tries (in vain) to train me in not getting lost!
I really enjoyed this re-read Rebecca. It reminded me of my granddad - he was born left handed but was forced to write with the right hand . I’m so grateful we live in a world where we don’t have to physically stifle our differences like that anymore !
Awww Camille, thank you for reading it again! It's horrid, isn't it, how people would be 'corrected' away from their left-handedness? Your poor granddad - I can only imagine how disorientating that must have been for him as a child. 😕
I wish he was around still so I could ask him more questions about it ! It’s funny how things like that leave a mark- he had the most beautiful penmanship , right-handed, and even went on to teach grammar to young children 😊
Gosh, it's fascinating to hear that he'd really made the most of his rebooted handedness with such beautiful handwriting - well done him! 🙌
In snowboarding, people who mount the board with their right foot forward, left foot back, are called “goofy-footed”--also not a compliment. I’ll look forward to another column in which you spin tales of your sinister foot, and all that society does to thwart you that way. OTOH, it’s good to be in the aristocracy of handed/footed-ness, as you and Barack well understand!
'My sinister foot' needs to be a book title, Peter! If I were to snowboard or skateboard (I don't, and am unlikely to ever do so!), I'd certainly be on the goofy side, because I'm very much left-footed as well as -handed! 🛹
Another lovely read. My sister was initially left-handed until repeated use of a ruler by a nun convinced her to write with her right hand. Her preference is still to do everything else left-handed but writing remains the role of the right hand.
Hoping that things settle down a little this week. Sending heaps of hugs and best wishes. 🤗🤗😘😘
Thank you, Beth! Gosh, your poor sister - but I love that she's still left-handed in everything other than writing. Hurrah!
And thank you for the good wishes and hugs. All will be well. 😘
Maybe you can ponder on this little situation: My starting foot when walking is left.
How do we 'left starting foot' deal with the world? *BG*
Mine too!!!! 🤣 Gosh, Olga - I might have to explore this! I cannot begin to climb a flight of stairs with my right foot - it would feel so wrong! 🤔
I have one more for you: I write with my right hand but I throw things with my left hand.
Still haven't been able to figure that one out.
Gosh, that's an interesting twist! Maybe it's to leave your right hand free for catching?! I have to say that I have a pretty poor aim with my left hand when I throw things - perhaps I'll give my right hand a go!
Enjoyed reading this, Rebecca. I am a lefty, but was coerced to change when young., I still do many things with my left hand better than with my right. Like eating. I write sloppily with both hands. My left hand is better at things requiring finesse whereas my right is better for strength. Adapting was always awkward but I also think it must good be for the brain. That being said, I remember the effort it took to adapt. Thanks for writing!
Thank you so much, James! How horrid that you weren't allowed to be left-handed when you were young. I eat with my fork in my left hand, and have always found it odd that right-handers tend to switch the side they hold their fork if they're using ONLY a fork, not a knife and fork. My right-handed husband, though, is an exception, and always keeps his fork (or spoon) in his left.
The finesse thing is very interesting - and how you prefer your right hand for things requiring strength. I do most things left-handed, but if I were ever to play cricket, golf or hockey again, I'd hold the bat/club/stick right-handed.
I remember reading this the first time, and it is still full of impact. Like, I suspect, many right-handers, I had never appreciated how difficult life can be for left-handed people. And I think it's terrible the way some children were forced to use their right hand, as some of the comments here illustrate, and which I knew from my reading.
The comic 2000AD has a character called Sinister Dexter, and the meaning (Right Left) had never occurred to me until now!
May I also say, Rebecca, that in the year I've come to know you since reading this post, which may in fact have been the first one of yours I ever read, and having read many more of your articles, your comments and of course your letters to me, I've really come to appreciate why people in the middle ages might have thought left-handed people were witches. 😍
😁
I don't know whether to chortle or cackle, Terry! Thank you for the witchcraft compliment! 🤣
Fabulous to learn about the character Sinister Dexter - that's brilliant! (I'm almost tempted not to tell you that you've got your translation the wrong way round!) 😉
I think left-handers - well, if I'm anything to go by - are resigned to the fact that to a certain extent they need to adapt to the world around them, and the fact that most things are engineered to cater for the majority.
Jackie Bridgen - who writes Smallholder Journal - left this brilliant comment on the first edition of this post:
"There was a lot of controversy over King Charles' stroppy behaviour when the inkwell got in his way, at his official accession.....
However.
What really made us smile was Prince William. Having watched his father get in a right two and eight about the fact that the inkwell was *in his way* he followed on with a distinct look of 'hold my beer - I'm left handed mate, everything's in my way permanently' and managed to sign the thing at a properly weird angle with nowhere on earth to put his elbow, and no fuss at all."
😍
Quite right: a bit of temporary back to frontness there. I actually THOUGHT left right but somehow wrote it wrong! Great royal story. Cackle: 😂
I'm so thankful for this re-post as it predates my recent subscription! So many lefties I know are artist/creative types, and I wonder if there is a correlation.
Thanks, Jen - I'm so glad you enjoyed the read! I think there is a correlation with creativity, but in my research for this post (not used because the post was soooooooo much longer when I did!) about left- and right-brained attributes of right- and left-handers, and discussing the question of whether left-handers are in fact more creative. It turns out that there isn't a study in which that has been shown, but it has been shown that it IS the case that people who are more dextrous (I don't mean that as in right-biased, but just as in, well, good with their hands) are more creative regardless of their handedness, meaning that it's their dexterity that is the point at hand, rather than the left/right debate. I can't help but think that at least some of it is hard-wired to handedness, though. 🤔
I enjoyed reading this again Rebecca! Left-handers definitely have a disadvantage. As far as the percentages of people who are left-handed, I never really thought about it.
I know how you feel about unforeseen circumstances. It seems like I have that every week. 🤣
Thanks, Matt! I remember our discussion about shoelaces when I had first posted this. Thank you for reading it again! 😊
Hi Rebecca,
I Love the post! I have, over the years in solidarity with my lefty fam and friends, tried to do things with my non-dominant hand, to the point I have become ambidextrous at certain things. I can write backward perfectly with my left hand while my other hand is writing toward the right. Try holding a crayon between your big toe and your second toe in both feet and on a large sheet of paper write your name. Your non-dominant hand and foot will automatically mirror.
I have a cousin who is a fraternal twin and he is a lefty to his sister’s being a righty. My boyfriend from a hundred years ago is also a lefty. I like it when we sit side by each at a restaurant--me on the right and he on my left--our elbows don’t get in each other’s way. When we used to dance, we’d take turns leading.
When I did house painting, I could paint equally well up high on a ladder with both hands, switching off seamlessly. It saved me having to get down to move the ladder constant. When I drive my car, I am much more comfortable steering on long straight roadways with my left hand. Using my right just feels awkward. I also learned that when we go down a street or out an unfamiliar door, we want to turn toward our dominant side. I have gotten lost so many times turning right when I should have gone left, not to mention the many closets and boiler rooms I have ended up in coming out of an unfamiliar bathroom.
OH, and since I broke my right femur resulting in an accidental hip replacement, I now lead with my left foot.
But some days I just can’t make up my mind--So I guess there is a little bit of gauche in those of us who were born under the sign of Libra. Yes, it’s a thing.
Wow, Gail, I love your approach to solidarity with the left-handed around you!
I'm going to have a go at the toe thing!
I always like to sit on the right of people, too - not just because of 'jogging' anyone else who's writing, but because it feels much more natural to look to the left than to the right. And I'd never thought about dancing - that's really interesting! At school (it was all girls) we sometimes had dancing lessons, and I was always, always the man, because I am exceptionally tall. So - for my gender - I can literally only dance backwards! 🤣
If I'm steering with one hand, it'll be my right - but that kind of makes sense over here anyway, because I need my left for changing gear.
When I lived in Germany I really struggled to drive - up until that point I'd felt very lucky that UK cars seem to be designed for left-handers (gearstick, handbrake, dashboard controls, all located in the middle of the car, so on my left) - and being behind the wheel of a left-hand drive car was not only unfamiliar but also contrary to my handedness 'wiring'! 🤣
I'm a right-handed tea drinker - but that makes perfect sense, because it leaves my left hand free to be doing other stuff at the same time. I also hold my phone in my right hand for the same reason - obviously if I need to take notes on my call I have to keep my left hand free for that.
Oh my, I hadn’t thought about the shifting part. I would feel so totally out of my element if I had to drive in the UK. Just riding on our little tour bus in Scotland sitting behind the driver scared the bejeezus outta me!
I’m fairly tall too at 5’9”, and all the boys that wanted to dance with me at school barely came up to between my breasts! I always envied the short girls who all the basketball players seemed attracted to.
And 3 of my 4 husbands were all barely my height or shorter. #2 was almost two inches taller. But that relationship lasted the shortest amount of time. 😜
LOL - I can just imagine you on that tour bus feeling that you were on the wrong side of the road!
I was so lucky when I found Jim - not that I chose him for his height - he's nearly 6'5" to my just-over 6'. I remember an early boyfriend once stopping on the stairs and turn back to kiss me - I was on the step below - and it felt SO odd to be suddenly kissing somebody taller than me (which was only the fault of the stairs, of course!).
His 6'8" nephew has just got married to a lovely girl who's 5'2"! I'm delighted for them both - they're a really super couple - but at the same time I'm feeling rather sorry for a tall single girl out there with one less tall chap available to be able to choose from! 😉🤣
If you'd like a laugh about a specific height struggle that I suspect you will identify with, have a read of this: https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/27-too-tall-to-shower
I'm glad you reposted this Rebecca as I wasn't around to read it the first time! I loved it. My dad and brother are left handed and I used to wonder as a kid why I wasn't and try to write with my left hand but to no avail 😂
And also, I can't wait to read the story of your race next week 💜
Thanks, Lyndsay! I love that you tried to be like your dad and brother - that's absolutely gorgeous!
And yay - thank you! I've been enjoying drafting that post, and am looking forward to publishing it! 🏃🏻 I'm sad not to have had the opportunity to finish it yet!
I'm sure it will be worth the wait! Life just gets in the way sometimes doesn't it ✏️💫
Thanks so much for bringing this back, Rebecca. As a left-hander myself, I feel your pain. This was beautifully detailed - both tragic and hilarious. I cracked up at this: "It’s for that reason that I’ll never forget the first time my friends and I discovered that gesture for ‘LOSER’. Yup, that one." and the absolutely adorable photo of a quintessential left-handed loser. I loved this piece.
Thank you, Sharron - yes, the LOSER thing is tragic, right?! 🤣
Rebecca, you'll be encouraged to learn the military has taken your side. I fondly remember my boot camp days,
'Your mama was home when you left,
left,
left, right left.'
Such a fun post!
Oh wow, just mud - that's really interesting!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this post - thank you for reading! 😊
One more thought, Rebecca. I carryout "small" motor skills like writing, eating, sewing, brushing my teeth, with my left hand. Trying to do them with my right is laughable. However, I naturally carry out most larger movements with my right hand- throwing a baseball, bowling, sweeping, stirring a pot, scrubbing a car. Is this true for you as well? I wonder if others experience the same...
Wow, that's really interesting - I've never really thought about it! I think I use my left for most tasks - certainly all of those you've listed here. I'm going to observe how I do things today and will report back if I am right-dominant in anything! The only things I can think of right now are golf/cricket/hockey, where I would certainly hold the club/bat/stick right-handed.
✋Lefty here! So wonderful you shared this piece again, Rebecca. I remember struggling with spiral bound notebooks, ink mess on the side of my palm and the way my arm felt tired after an exam because there were no lefty chairs. I taught myself to write with my right hand during my senior year in high school and throughout college. So I guess I’m ambidextrous. But, I still do things with left like eating with chopsticks, playing with a tennis racket, eating with one utensil. Will always be a lefty at heart ❤️
Thanks, Stella! I've been known to use notebooks upside down - even starting at the back - for just that reason! And yes - those chairs with the flap-down attached tables on the WRONG side - I'd have to turn the chair 90° so that the table would be in front of me rather than the side.
I'm so impressed that you taught yourself to write with your right hand. Hey, I might have a go. Actually, I DID do some right-handed art recently - when I was having fun drawing those beach pebbles last month I was exploring getting really random patterns using a very thick 8b pencil in my right hand instead of my left. https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/85-too-many-treasures