I was born left-handed. Well according to my father I was.

In my parent’s and grandparents’ eras, left-handed people were looked down upon. Inferior. Only because they are different.

So I was forced to be a righty.

I don’t know why or how I recall this but when I was little. Really little. Like a toddler maybe. My grandmother would immediately slap my left hand (lightly) and force me to use my right hand. My mother and aunts would watch me like hawks and constantly nag “migi, migi, migi (right, right, right)”.

My father was the only person in my family who encouraged me using my left hand. My father was also the one who taught me how to play sports. To this day, I still golf with lefty clubs. Bat with my left. Bowl with my left. Kick with my left side first. Oddly, there are a lot of other things I do with my left. When dining, I cut with my left. I open and push doors with my left. Instinctively, I favor my left.

In college, I began training my left. Practiced writing ABCs, cursive and kanji with my left. I taught myself to be ambidextrous. My writing preference, is still my right and I remind myself “hidari, hidari, hidari (left, left, left)” to sustain my left-handed penmanship.

There are many studies conducted on handedness. Some allude left-handed people are more creative, artistic and intelligent than right-handed people.

I don’t know if that is true. What I do know, is my brain is like my handedness.

The right and left sides are constantly battling each other and I have to remind myself: migi, migi, migi (creativite, creative, creative) or left, left, left (logic, rational, detach). Just like my handedness, I instinctively rely on my left-side yet switch unexpectedly.

This week I started wondering if my brain should continue operating like my handedness. The switching back and forth, learning to balance business objectives with the conceptual or abstract has worked out professionally. But for personal growth, the constant switching is hindering. Almost like because I strive balance, I am suppressing instinctive parts of my brain that want to excel, which makes my overall brain above average at best. 広く浅く(hiroku asaku), as we say in Japanese. Far, wide but shallow; or knowing a little bit of everything.

Joining Hi was a reminder of how much I missed my creative side. The side of me I always knew existed, but haven’t nurtured.

Maybe I’ll take a writing class.

Oh and PS: thank you for your warm welcomes! This community is wonderful and talented. So talented. I can’t remember the last time I thought about comma placement… more or less re-reading and even editing blog posts. So thank you all, for inspiring me to become a better writer. I am so happy to be here.

Obviously. As the first thing I do at work is start writing for Hi.