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.