<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m picky about pens. But there\u2019s a reason for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want the ease of pushing a pen across a page without resistance. No skipping ink. No tearing paper. No second-guessing my capabilities because the tool won\u2019t cooperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What writer\u2014of any age or prose\u2014wants to lose a good thought to a bad tool?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, we have devices now. But the pen still has a place.
Even Apple and Samsung agree\u2014they keep tucking styluses into the sides of their tablets like it\u2019s the future and the past rolled into one.
The moment of putting ink to paper\u2014or stylus to board (yes, even the stylus can be that way)\u2014slows the world down just enough for you to hear yourself think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spirals, scissors, and the quiet art of adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being left-handed means these things are noticed automatically\u2014
because the simplest parts of life have a way of making ours just a little more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pens that only release ink from one side.
Notebooks with spirals exactly where your hand needs to rest.
Desks in school where the armrest mocked you from the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scissors are always suspect.
And the \u201cuniversal handle\u201d kind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nStill works great for Righties. Lefties\u2014you\u2019ll struggle, but at least your thumb won\u2019t be sore.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
And knives?
Every damn knife.
It\u2019s getting harder to find a left-handed one, and I need one.
My right-handed husband sharpened mine\u2014
it\u2019s now a \u201cuniversal\u201d blade.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBeing left-handed means adapting. Flipping. Tilting. Working around things that weren\u2019t made for you.
Over time, it builds something: flexibility.
The kind of thinking that makes good engineers, problem solvers, or at the very least, excellent adapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStrategic by Nature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What it means to be part of something rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many right-handers give any thought to where they sit at a table?
A lefty does\u2014without thinking about it.
If you\u2019re made aware of it, chances are, you\u2019re sitting next to one.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe try to be strategic.
And when we can\u2019t, we\u2019ll say something.
Not to be difficult\u2014just to keep everyone\u2019s elbows from being bruised.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe\u2019re still pretty rare, and I like that (only about 1 in 10 people are left-handed).
I\u2019ve always been proud to be left-handed.
There\u2019s an easy connection when you come across another one in the world.
A quiet recognition\u2014no big moment, just a subtle shift.
Like you both know how to move around the same invisible edges.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI Grew Up Watching Lefties Work Wonders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Both of my parents were left-handed. Rare for their generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They made me feel proud to be part of a unique club from a young age.
And not just any club\u2014a quietly resilient, wildly creative, deeply capable one.
They personified the strengths of left-handedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMy dad was an test engineer, often tasked with finding the problem in a part that failed.
He had a way of listening to everyone’s theories and then went to work to find either a solution or a workaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMy mom was a creative genius with the sewing machine. There is family lore about her making a pair of pants in seven minutes\u2014with a zipper\u2014for an emergency situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was also great at drawing, painting, and landscaping, and she created a successful business with pottery. Culinary arts were not something she enjoyed, and we all paid for that one.
I still can’t eat zucchini to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut she did find an interest in woodworking and made some beautiful pieces\u2014bold, intricate, and true to her vision, even when it meant working with difficult woods like Purple Heart as an accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, seeing them thrive\u2014even in areas where being a lefty can be dangerous\u2014was reaffirming and empowering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Left Is Left<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are moments when your confidence in who you are is so steady, not even the most mismatched accommodations can throw you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn’t bothered when teachers suggested I should switch hands or when kids tried to poke fun at my paper being almost sideways for me to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s that quiet confidence from my family example that allowed me to take pity on a frantic, disheveled, older P.E. teacher who proctored my S.A.T.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was late and couldn’t find the right key to the room.
Feeling the time pressure, he was impatient and gruff but was clearly told by someone he had to make accommodations for people\u2014including left-handers.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe asked each one of us as we entered if we were left-handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things were going well for him until he came across me and my left hand.
He quickly scanned the room for a left-handed desk\u2014there was none.
Flustered and clearly not sure what to do, he decided left was left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n“Well, just go sit on the left side of the room.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn’t say anything, just laughed and moved to the left side of the room, sat in a right-handed desk, and adapted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We Just Want Things to Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We are masters of the workaround.
However, there were times when enough was enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019d hear my mother’s frustrated yell ring out from the garage or the backyard when she was fed up with a tool or machine:
“I just want things to work!”<\/p>\n\n\n\nI think that\u2019s the mantra of most lefties.
We silently adapt. We make things work for us.
But once in a while, when it becomes too much, the frustration breaks through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n“We just want things to work.”
We want the basic, everyday tools to just work.
To make our lives a little easier.
One less thing to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Quality of Life We\u2019re All Looking For<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So yes, I am picky about pens. And notebooks. And tumblers.
But I\u2019ve learned that being particular about the little things isn\u2019t about being difficult\u2014it\u2019s about being deliberate.
A thoughtful choice at the start saves time, frustration, and energy later.
And sometimes, that\u2019s the difference between a day that drains you and one that moves a little more smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s hear from you:<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n