During the pandemic, when things felt both impossible and boring, I devised this little game to play for myself where I did things the opposite, and went through the day using my non-dominant hand. It was silly, frustrating at times, and overall, delightful.
I started drawing with my left hand, too, surprised by what resulted, and how it was often more fluid than my rigid, correct right hand. And then I’ve tried writing with my non-dominant hand, an exercise in subconscious journaling one essayist in The Book of Alchemy even recommended. Slow and steady, and see what happens. It may not look like much, and it always feels good. That side often (always) has something to say, I’ve found.
Today, my brain has felt like it’s stuck in some unhelpful loops, so I’m endeavoring to play the game again. Unscrew this lid with my left hand. Stir my coffee with the left hand, etc. It forces a slowness and awareness, and I find creates similar benefits in the way people will suggest taking a different route to work: Take our brains off autopilot and bring them into presence. Make a left instead, and our brains see a new world quite literally, because we see the world in a new way, senses heightened and details fresh.
On a yoga retreat in Mallorca, where temperatures hit 104 Fahrenheit and we had no air conditioning and felt like wet spaghetti, one of our guides encouraged us in group share to do the opposite of what we usually do. Speak up first if you always wait until last. Hold back from breaking the ice, and instead wait until the end. Because change is a choice we make in each moment, this pattern interruption I found to profound. Also probably the experience of reaching non-functioning metabolic levels under the Mallorcan sun.
There are some “opposite,” experiences in life I think are so important to have and seek out, for growth (of self) and understanding and compassion (for and of others), too. Some I had early on and were formative, like working as a diner hostess one summer and a shoe store sales attendant for a year in high school. Others, like being in the minority, I know I want to seek out more. (Travel helps!) These include:
Being part of a non-majority group (race, ethnicity, language, culture)
Holding a job in hospitality and/or service (I was both a diner hostess and shoe store sales attendant at points in my life
Cultivating intergenerational friendships
There are others, too, like sensory deprivation (such as a silent meditation retreat, Vipassana) that others seek out for healing and self-improvement. Still, I think the everyday offers us so many opportunities and invitations to be a student and scientist of life, just as meaningful.