lefties rule!

~ jama

“I may be left-handed, but I am always right.” ~ Anonymous

Hand Cookies by Ree Drummond/Food Network.

What do Paul McCartney, Julia Roberts and Prince William have in common?

Well, Paul is music royalty,

Julia is Hollywood royalty,

and Prince William is genuine-for-real British royalty (*swoons*):

Aside from that, they’re all lefties. 🙂

Perhaps southpaws are the true blue bloods of the world, the chosen few who comprise about 10% of the population. They are thought to be creative, imaginative, artistic, holistic and musical — traits associated with the right hemisphere of the brain, which is also responsible for left-hand control.

What’s it like being a lefty in a right-handed world? In the following poem, Virginia based poet Gregory Orr describes an early childhood challenge.

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ODE TO LEFT-HANDEDNESS
by Gregory Orr

I sat at my kindergarten desk,
Surrounded by others,
Either cheerful
Or bored, who were
Cutting
The requisite circles
With ease,
Or slicing down
Straight, penciled lines
As the teacher directed.

I did my dutiful best,
But the scissors
Hurt my fingers
In a minor,
Distracting way,
And I was too young
To realize the handle
Was biased
For a right-hand child,
So all I could do
Was cut in clumsy zigzags
And feel like a fool.

Staring hard at the blades,
I tried to will them
To obey,
Who couldn’t conceive
I was being freed
That day
By those little silver wings
Of a bird
Intent on the erratic,
Authentic pattern
Of its own flight
Through a sky of colored paper.

~ from The Last Love Poem I Will Ever Write (W.W. Norton & Co., 2019).

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Don’t you love how Orr turns what could be a frustrating disadvantage into a creative opportunity? How empowering to own one’s left-handedness!

Certainly seems our friends Paul, Julia, and William have also found ways to chart authentic flight patterns despite societal and hereditary constraints.

I’ve long been fascinated by lefties and admire them for their uniqueness and differences. While smudging their handwriting, bumping elbows at the dinner table, and mastering the use of can openers, buttons and zippers, lefties have shown us just how flexible and adaptable human beings can be when forced to navigate a right-hand friendly world.

Some so called lefties (like my older brother) are actually mixed-handed, favoring the left hand for some tasks (writing, eating, cooking), while using the right hand for others (playing the guitar, holding baseball bats, golf clubs, etc.). Truly ambidextrous people (having equal ability in both hands) are truly rare, making up only 1% of the population.

Did you know life could be scary, even dangerous for lefties in olden times? Back in the Middle Ages, left-handers in Britain were associated with the devil and accused of witchcraft. Considered unlucky and evil, lefties were forced to use their right hands throughout the 18th and 19th centuries (this practice continued into the 20th century in some places).

But these days, left-handedness is a subject of curiosity without any attached stigma. Studies continue to explore whether lefties are smarter, healthier, more athletic, or better at memory tasks. It seems genetics, biology, and environment all play a role in determining handedness.

“Interestingly, left-handed people as a group have historically produced an above-average quota of high achievers. They say, ‘left-hander’s brains are structured differently in a way that allow them to process language, spatial relations and emotions in more diverse and potentially creative ways.'”

There’s certainly no shortage of high achieving lefties who’ve inspired us along the way: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Mozart, Lewis Carroll, Eudora Welty, Benjamin Franklin, Aristotle, Charlie Chaplin, Jimi Hendrix, Lady Gaga, Winston Churchill, Beethoven, Ringo Starr, Helen Keller, Henry Ford, Marie Curie, Babe Ruth, Joan of Arc, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to name a few.

And did you know five of the last nine U.S. Presidents are lefties (Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan)? Fascinating coincidence.

When it comes to famous lefties, Paul is my hands down fave. Is there any cooler left-handed bass player, sous chef or eater? I think not. 🙂

It looks like Paul’s daughter Mary (left) is also a lefty!

Raise your hand if you’re a lefty (maybe you should run for President?). Any other unique challenges you face in everyday life that would never occur to us righties?

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♥️ BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER! 🍓

Thanks to everyone who entered the Betty and the Mysterious Visitor giveaway. We are still drooling after reading your delectable comments citing favorite jams (peach! elderberry! cherry! apricot! mixed berry!). Yum!

We are pleased to announce that the lucky person (who likes raspberry best) is:

🥁 drum roll please 🥁

*

🎺 trumpet fanfare 🎺🎺

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🎉 LOIS BARTHOLOMEW!!! 🎉

🌺 Congratulations, Lois!!! 🎈

👏👏👏👏👏

We know you’ll love the book and enjoy sharing it with your grandchildren. 🙂

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Birthday Girl and Dancing Queen Bridget Magee is hosting the Roundup at wee words for wee ones. Tap dance on over to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Happy Birthday, Bridget (cha cha cha)!

*Copyright © 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

28 thoughts on “lefties rule!”

  1. Your post about lefties is just right, Jama. And your highlighted left-handed overachievers are swoon worthy. The fun fact about 5 of the last 9 presidents being left handed is fascinating! That has to be more than a coincidence.
    (Thanks for the birthday shout out as well. I’m learning a new dance today, so I’m feeling like I have two left feet at the moment. 😉 )

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Raising my (left) hand! I have always loved being a leftie, though, yes, some challenges, like when signing books, how I have to lift my hand or it smears the ink (and stains my hand). And all lefties know to seat themselves at the left end of a table so we’re not bumping elbows with our dining partner. xo

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    2. Oh! I knew we had some lefties in the PF bunch. I didn’t realize you were a lefty though. You must have a strong wrist after all these years of lifting your hand to write.

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  3. Wow, the list of ‘who’ is a leftie is an eye-opener, Jama. I will share this with my son, also a leftie & I as his mom learned a lot helping him navigate all the right-handed ways of the world. I love the “little silver wings” from poet Gregory Orr. And we do ensure that Nathan gets the “right” seating at the table! The family story passed down was that my husband was a leftie and was “not” allowed to use it, made to change to his right. Thus, even not so long ago people did think it was not a good thing.

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    1. It really is hard to fathom that people were forced to use their right hands when left was more comfortable and natural for them. I’m glad things have changed!

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  4. Wonderful poem and post Jama! Love these closing lines: “
    Authentic pattern
    Of its own flight”

    I usually notice lefties as my daughter is left handed and have always encouraged her pursuit in that direction, and she shares many of the traits you mentioned—started writing sentences at an amazingly early age of 3 or 4…. Thanks ☺️ for all!

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  5. Fascinating, Jama! Coming from a family of roughly 25% lefties on my dad’s side, I always felt a little jealous that they had that unique trait. Lefties are definitely special!

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    1. Sounds like quite a high percentage in just one family. I was a little jealous of my brother’s left-handedness too — but only sometimes. I think I was more impressed by his ability to use different hands for different tasks.

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  6. Yes, lefties are the best, and I love that poem. I knew Paul was a lefty but not Ringo. I guess I didn’t know because he had to use both hands to drum! Interesting about changing hands in school. The nuns always changed lefties to righties. A friend of mine who is left handed was actually called sinister by her Latin teacher citing that the Latin word for evil is the same as left handed!That was not nice. Anyhow, fun facts are that my two best friends are lefties and my two sons are lefties as is my grandson! I use both of my hands. Right for fine motor skills and left for gross motor skills! On that note, have a great weekend!

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  7. When I was a girl playing softball, I was a leftie at bat, but that was the extent of it. I just love the photos you shared of all those lefties in a right-handed world. Such a clever poem, comparing those scissors to a boy intent on being himself.

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  8. I have written extensively on life as a Leftie, including poetry, Jama. Some of the earlier events in my life have had long last impacts. I vividly remember playing hockey at school when it was part of our physical education course. I was forced to play right handed. It felt quite confronting. We lefties are a special group as evidenced by your impressive gallery of creative luminaries. The poem provides wonderful insight into the world of left handers in a right handed world. I admire the poet’s attitude. Great choice of topic!

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    1. Sorry to hear you were forced to play hockey right-handed. Judging by the comments here, it sounds like this practice of forcing lefties to go right was more common than I realized. Hopefully that practice has been abolished!

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  9. Three cheers for the lefties of the world! I remember what a difference it made for my lefties when I added a whole set of left-handed scissors to the shared supplies in the classroom. Some of them had never cut with ease before. (But was I denying them the creativity that Orr found in struggling through with a tool that didn’t match his handedness????)

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    1. How wonderful that you provided left-handed scissors in your classroom! There’s enough stress in this world as it is, without being forced to go against the grain.

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    1. Wow, it seems most everyone who’s commented this week is or knows one or more lefties. That’s a good sign because it means fewer lefties are being forced to change their handedness than before.

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  11. Me! Me! Me! I’m a lefty–though I only write, eat, and brush my teeth with my left hand. I use scissors, play sports (maybe that’s why I’m terrible), iron, and oddly, use a knife with my right hand.

    I’m very particular about notebooks. No spirals for me (unless they have a wiiiidddeee margin). I love those notebooks that have flat openings (think Leuctterm, Moleskine, and Studio Oh books).

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    1. Spiral notebooks could be very painful/uncomfortable for lefties. That’s something I hadn’t really considered before writing this post. You’re lucky to be able to use different hands for different things!

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  12. I’m in the Lefty Club 100%! I am great at drive-through windows and toll booths where those are still in existence.

    My greatest frustration was always using a traditional camera, as the shutter button on the ‘right’ hand side felt awkward to me. Using a phone with a centrally located shutter button has been a boon!

    Lefty scissors at all – where were they when I was growing up? I’ve adapted to regular scissors since they are everywhere!

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  14. Lefties are amazing! Both of my sons are lefties, and I’m very familiar with the challenges lefties face. I love the poem and will share it with them.

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