Not Quite Grasping On

My month of ambidexterity is coming to a close. I am blogging about this experience for the very first time, despite my rule to write once per week. I mainly have not written due to lack of time in the busy holiday season. Another fair reason (for my lack of self control) is that I really did not have a lot to report. Excuses.... excuses. They don't really mean a lot, but they do ease my guilt slightly :)

I have already decided to extend my challenge for one more month. This challenge was a lot of fun. I truly enjoyed it. Despite the enjoyment, it was easily forgettable. Remembering to use my left hand for normal daily activities happened on a minimal basis, so this challenge will stay in effect until February tenth. I anticipated and predicted the actual use of my left hand to be my strongest challenge but I was wrong. Memory was actually my biggest nemesis during this challenge. I would only describe multiple hand use as feeling slightly awkward.

Writing in my journal daily (using my left hand) was the task I forgot most often. Actually, to be more accurate, I believe I subconsciously avoided and resisted this task. The few times I wrote a paragraph using my left hand, the process was painfully slow. Although, in only a few short days I did notice a drastic improvement. The readability and speed of my writing was distinguishably much better each time. Imagine if I had written for the full 30 days, like I was supposed to! I fully intend to do this from now on.

During this challenge, when I remembered to use my left hand, I felt a feeling of alertness. I swear I could almost feel my brain thinking each time I used my left hand to write in my journal, brush my teeth or use the computer. I also noticed a feeling of resistance towards myself each time I practiced, but tasks did became much easier as time went on. The feeling of resistance faded with each day. The regular multi-hand use became more and more natural as the month passed.

One task I attempted with my left hand surprised me. I used chopsticks! I expected this to be fairly difficult and humorous, but I was delighted to learn that I really had no difficulty at all. I believe my previous experiences of multi-hand use (when I worked at Kicking Horse) encouraged my mind to be more used to a slight level of ambidexterity. I would say this challenge seems more natural to my body than I expected.

Something troubling to note, is the changes in my speech pattern. I have always somewhat stuttered or mixed up my words. I tend to think much faster than words can escape my mouth, and sometimes my sentences get scattered all about. Many times, when I tell a story, I get so excited that gibberish comes out and the unlucky assailant of my verbal mess quickly loses interest in what I tried to say. This is the obvious reason why I like to write my words. Everything in my mind can be slowed down, reviewed and explained in the way that I intended it. To my dismay, I have noticed an increase in my frustrating verbal experiences since the beginning of this challenge.

The research I did before this challenge indicated that speech issues (such as dyslexia and stuttering) can be associated more often with ambidextrous people. Even though multi-hand use exercises the brain more evenly, the mind becomes confused when speech is involved. I am a little concerned about this, but I do not think another month of left hand use is really going to make a huge difference. I still believe the benefits of ambidexterity outweigh the negatives. Even if I do sound like a jabbering fool ;) In the future I may even learn to counteract my speech mishaps, using another challenge. Possibilities are endless!

On a general basis, I have learned that daily life interferes with my challenges. I allow all of the noise in my mind (and life) to overshadow these valuable learning experiences. Perhaps my next challenge should focus on this specific aspect? This intuitive and natural progression of my challenge choices is something I feel makes sense in my journey to consciously evolve.

Starting each challenge is the fun part.... following through with each challenge IS the challenge. I am determined to follow through with my multi-hand use for the next month, and to post my experiences regularly.

CHALLENGE #4: I Am Blessed With Two Hands

I see with two eyes. I listen with two ears. I walk with both legs. I write with only one hand.

To me, this unbalance indicates that there is a part of my brain that could be exercised more. I am going to learn to become more multi-handed, with an ultimate goal to become ambidextrous. My right hand is dominant to my left hand. This challenge will require me to increase my left hand usage.

A quick Google on the subject listed some very famous people who were thought to be ambidextrous or extremely multi-handed. Michelangelo created his genius inventions and art with both hands. Leonardo Da Vinci created his masterpieces' with two mitts. Ludwig Van Beethoven predictably played the piano with both hands. Hippocrates, Plato and Einstein were all reported to exercise both brain hemispheres by the use of their upper limbs. If you research ambidextrous athletes, many more known names are listed too.

I learned that only one percent of the world's population are naturally ambidextrous. This small percentage of people were born with both hands equally dominant. However, it is possible to learn ambidexterity even if you were not born with the gift.

Yes, in my opinion, I feel that being ambidextrous is a gift. It is an unique skill that I would like to gain. I believe it can be very beneficial.

Some benefits I found were:

• increased athletic ability
• an easier ability to recall the content of an event
• improved left brain and right brain integration
• tasks can be done more efficiently
• a reduced risk of carpal tunnel syndrome
• an increased ability to read other people
• a better ability to see both sides of a situation

Not all scientists believe ambidexterity is a benefit. Some studies indicate that dyslexia and language difficulties are more common among the naturally ambidextrous population. Other studies even show difficulty conceiving and increased cancers in people who use both hands regularly.

I take ALL the studies with a grain of salt. I do not know the details of those studies, like: whether there was an adequate control group, or how long the people were studied, or if there were multiple or singular studies conducted. I do not take ANYTHING from Google as fact. To me, it is all theory, and anyone can put information on the Internet, whether they have credentials and proven knowledge..... or not.

I personally would like to become ambidextrous because it intrigues me. I know humans do not use the full potential of their brain. I feel it is obvious here to state: if I begin using my left hand nearly as much as my right hand, new pathways and connections in my brain will be created. I can not see a true disadvantage to using more of my brain. I hope it will help me to become more evolved and maybe bestow some of the benefits I listed (and others I do not know about).

I mentioned some very admirable creators, philosophers and artists as being reportedly ambidextrous. All of them were highly intelligent and talented. Is it conceivable that their ambidexterity was an aid in their genius? Can I potentially increase my intelligence by learning to become multi-handed? Hey, I might as well try. If anything, it will be a fun challenge.

The rules of this challenge are as follows:

1. I will write at least one paragraph per day in my journal using my left hand.
2. I will be aware of daily tasks (ex: brushing my teeth) and attempt to use my left hand for everything I normally do with my right hand (exception: work paperwork..... I don't think my boss would be impressed if my reports looked like they were written by a first grader).
3. I will blog about this experience once per week.
4. As a start, I will maintain this challenge for one month (until January 5th, 2011). After one month I will re-evaluate whether I would like to go further with this challenge.

Try, try, one day.....

So my challenge "Try, try, again" just never happened.

I literally did not even attempt it. Here is my excuse:

I began night shifts as soon as I started my job in Northern, B.C. Night shift was expected, but not the length of time. I have now been on night shifts for almost an entire month. Being a vampire has messed with my body schedule and any attempt at this challenge seemed like too much effort. I admit it... it was too much, particularly with so little proper rest.

One day I will once again attempt this challenge, but for now it will be left waiting.

Before I re-attempt this challenge I am going to drastically reduce the amount of tasks listed and review the entire challenge. I do not want to keep setting myself up for failure. Although, I do not feel that failure is necessarily a bad thing, this challenge has become my nemesis and I would love to conquer it. Proving to myself that I can do it has become the evolution of this challenge. Third time's the charm right?

Recently, I have been doing something rather interesting here in camp. I have started using my left hand to do more day-to-day tasks. It seems to help my brain stay more alert.

This is something I did years ago when I worked as a day-lodge cashier at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. I was utterly bored to pieces standing there ringing people through the register.... so I began to use my left hand to do all of the transactions. I did this experiment for about 2 months of the season. Ever since, I have noticed that I use my left hand much more often than before. It took a very short amount of time for my brain to build pathways for left hand usage.

I have decided that becoming ambidextrous will be my next challenge.