Last month, I spontaneously decided to start brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand. Not just because, but to teach myself a new skill. It may not create more connections in my brain like that if I just ate magic mushrooms or my chosen task as impressive as learning how to play Clair de Lune on the piano, but believe me, it could very well be just as involved.
The first day I brushed not only my teeth but also my forehead and had foam running up to my elbow – don’t ask why. I honestly did not expect it to be that hard. But I am one for trying.
For the next weeks, I was 100% sure I carried on with my day with my teeth not cleaned perfectly. This, even if it felt like I have been carrying on brushing for what felt like a hairline away from eternity. But hey, all beginners begin somewhere.
The good news is by the end of last month, I was able to brush my teeth decently, if not as good as my dominant hand. I felt really proud of myself!
Another interesting thing I did not expect was how it turned out an absolute joy to brush my teeth like a retard on the way to learning how to brush my teeth correctly with my non-dominant hand. I can think of several things I tried to pick up in the past that felt more like pulling teeth. There has got to be better ways to learn, and sure enough, there are.
Now if only picking up disciplines is always this enjoyable, then maybe we would all be curious to learn new things every day and have fun doing so. We would never stop learning. Like it is all just play.
What thing did you had the most fun learning and what was your worst experience with something you just had to give up on it before you mastered it?
Markus + Micah 
Ok this is definitely something i need to try too 😂 most fun learning: recently i’ve been spending much time learning about plant care. Just reading online and watching YT. Something i gave up: learning how to swim 🥲
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Yes to plant care! Who do you watch? I follow Planterina and Harli G. Amanda cracks me up every time. Why did you give up on swimming? I want to be good at it actually because I want to scuba dive.
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I don’t know, i was just hopeless haha. Maybe swimming as P.E. class in university was not the best way to learn it, since it was not one-on-one and the instructor was always in a hurry. Anyway, yes I love Planterina! And Crazy Plant Guy 😊
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Fair enough. It is a wonder how good teachers can change our lives. Are you on Ig?
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It’s funny, but my immediate and first response when I began reading your post was, But I am ambidexturous!!!!
Having said this, I get what you are saying, and I wholeheartedly say Let’s do this!
The most recent thing I had great fun learning was making ciabatta, inspire by you, of course. Batch after batch, coming closer to what I think a good ciabatta should taste like, tweaking, making changes – all the while, the family is thoroughly enjoying a bread I didn’t even realise they liked so much.
If I have given up on something, it’s mostly because I’ve decided I’ve had enough because it wasn’t as important as I thought, or not as fun as I’d hoped. Part of the cost of trying new things, right?
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Wow, you are ambidextrous. That is super! I wish I was, too. It will help when I am tired from writing. I am so happy that you are enjoying the process of making ciabatta. I bet your family enjoys it more! Is yours a very wet dough? I made brioche buns for my vegetarian burgers the other day. It was fun but not perfect.
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I tend to have a favourite hand for different tasks – it’s just worked out that way 😂
My ciabatta dough has become pretty wet. I am going to try a different recipe next time to see if it makes a difference.
Ooh, brioche – that is another bread I have not tried. I make lots of enriched breads but not yet brioche.
Incidentally, perfection is not a criteria for our food – colourful, fun, healthy, but our bread tends to be very rustic and lopsided!
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That is so cute. I wish someone told me that when I was a child – you can have a favorite hand for different things. Oh, same with ciabatta dough, but I kind of like the wet dough. I hope when you are bored you try brioche. My sister made me ensaymadas yesterday. They were so good. I am dead.
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I just looked up ensaymadas – they look sooooo good!
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Try them please! They are heaven on Earth. Easily my favorite Filipino treat. If it is Filipino. Not sure if it has Spanish origins or what. Is there a dessert or baked thing that is uniquely from there?
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I am fascinated by the similar bakes & treats that find their way to different places & cultures.
Apparently ensaymadas originate from Majorca, where they are called ensaimada. So fascinating!
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Well, there you go. From the Spanish colonial period then. It is really yummy. Just thinking about it makes me smile. Best with thick, hot chocolate.
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Ooooh, hot chocolate made from scratch, with just a touch of sweet. Yum yum!!!
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There is a nice hot chocolate preparation from Joshua Weisman on YouTube.
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Younger Daughter and I watched the video – it is hilarious! and delicious! I want to make Mexican Hot Chocolate now! I usually just melt chopped up dark chocolate with milk …. this is so fancy!
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Happy to hear you enjoyed it. We make the Italian all the time, especially when we want dessert but are lazy. I checked the pumpkin brownie recipe and am looking forward to making it, too.
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The Italian looks so super thick! It’s like pudding, isn’t it?
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Yes, but you can adjust it easily. Which one did you like most?
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I am not a great fan of pre-mixes …. I love the Italian & Mexican.
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Fair enough. I mean, pre-mixes are mostly sugar, right.
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Exactly! And I prefer my hot chocolate pretty dark and not so sweet. Usually I just mix 100% chopped chocolate with milk. But I definitely want to try both the Italian & Mexican because they are customizable!
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Just do it then! And I hope one day I can try your hot chocolate, too.
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Ahaha congrats! I read that it was actually better to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand because you brush imore softly so it doesn’t damage the teeth, so maybe we should all do the same! 😊 I used to try taking note with my non-dominant hand when I was at university and I was bored… it started up pretty badly but now it is not so bad, though it really didn’t teach me anything ahah
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Yes, I suppose we try these things when we are bored. It was fun and I still do it. I find that when I am rushing I just use my dominant hand but the lesson here is why am I rushing at all? Haha.
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The use of the non dominant hand is always interesting. A month ago I had a skin cancer removed from my right hand, which is the dominant hand. Many stitches later and with the skin and muscles pulled up along a 7cm incision (thus avoiding the need for a skin graft), my hand was out of action for two weeks. I often use my left hand to do things anyway (as many of us do re whichever is the less dominant hand). I am always amazed how coordinated I can be playing the guitar as it requires both hands, equally. I often drink a cup of tea using my left hand. Of course, when I was out of action, I still typed away using my left hand, although things did take a bit longer. Getting dressed and undressed was a definite challenge!
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I don’t know how you just made skin cancer recovery sound fun, but you just did, and I think you are very cool. I hope all is well with your health now!
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It’s not until you temporarily lose use of your dominant hand (e.g. because of injury) and are sitting on the toilet that you realize just how dependent you are upon the usual uses of dominant/non-dominant hands!
So good on you, training your brain and hands to be ambidextrous. It will serve you well at some point!
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Toilet, of course! That is a very good point, Rebecca, if not the most important one. Hahaha.
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I was disappointed to come back here and find my comment missing. I wonder if it didn’t get sent from my phone. ???
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This time the phone is vindicated, Anne. It is me moderating comments slower than usual. Remember in my previous posts, I mentioned having some lung situation? Currently dealing with it, unfortunately. All is well though so nothing to worry about.
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Oh! I’m sorry to hear you are still dealing with your lung problem. I hope you will be better soon.
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Thanks, Anne. It is not too bad. Doctor manages it well.
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I taught myself to cover my yawning mouth with my palm facing out. I saw someone do it on tv and liked it.
More recently, I’m interlacing my fingers with my non-dom hand in the top position.
I love that you brushed your forehead!! When I went to Dining In The Dark (simulates total blindness), my dining partner got cake in her hair (she apparently went full feral and ate by shoving her fave down to where she thought the plate was located). I stayed “civil” but ate a ball of butter… by itself. Something I hope never to repeat.
Warning: the “R word” is currently considered extremely offensive to many. I had a very hard time breaking the habit because to me it was an insult word completely unlinked to anyone’s actual mental capacity.
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Oh, that is interesting. So glad to see many others doing interesting things with what is otherwise mundane. The butter ball is funny. I wish I could do it, too. And I get it with the R word and considered it before posting, too.
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Dining in the Dark is fantastic. The staff are blind and their spatial awareness is extra impressive when you can’t accurately cut chicken but they know exactly where everything is!
My friend started hallucinating streaks of light. I found I couldn’t tell if the music was recorded or live. I thought it was weird that one table that we could here was being all serious and formal. We couldn’t stop laughing at ourselves!!
There are some great promo videos, taken with infrared cams!! The one I attended was called Opaque.
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I could totally see how that is exciting. Not sure if it is already a thing here but it would be a cool experience.
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You crazy person! 😂 Why? 💓 How weird, but this post takes me back years ago when I was an archery coach. When I was coaching and trying to highlight the problems of learning a new skill (in this case, archery) I used to ask people to try brushing their teeth with their non-dominant hand! In the end, the hope was to make people aware of what their bodies were doing when shooting arrows.
One thing that comes to mind was learning Tai Chi, again, years ago! My wife and I loved the classes but when we tried to remember the moves when we got home, we just messed up, a bit like you brushing your forehead🤣
Something that really shocked me, was sitting on a “shave-horse” for the first time, a couple of years ago, with a draw-knife and instantly knew what I was doing! Where did that skill come from? And what a joy! 😊🙏
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You were an archery coach? That is the coolest! You coached at school or? And it must have been hilarious to try Tai Chi at home feeling confident you know how to and realizing sooner than it is a challenge. Haha. We are so lucky we are able to laugh at ourselves. What is a shave-horse?
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Yes, a coach at club level only but just gaining the certificate I learned so much and initially I loved helping people to learn a new skill, that gave me great pleasure. Here’s someone using a shave horse.
https://youtu.be/9xia4yY32Mw
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Teachers who are meant to be teachers are super cool! Damn, shaving horse is serious business.
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The video shows a man working with what appears to be seasoned wood (dried), it looks like really hard work, but as a “green” woodworker I use wood that has just been cut from the tree so it is still full of sap and using the drawknife is like pulling a knife through butter. (Green woodwork means working with sustainable wood and is usually carried on out of doors in the woods).
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It does look like that! Would not trust myself with one of those, so very well done.
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I learned to play badminton with both left and right hands. That was easy and fun, but I was young then. Every once in a while I put on my jeans starting with the left foot instead of the right. Sometimes I dry my right arm first just for the heck of it. I’ll keep occasionally doing things backward unless I hurt myself. I won’t blame you.
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It is really the little things that add spice to life, doesn’t it? What used to be routine or boring is suddenly more interesting and we are forced to pay more attention and it is really nice. Not sure what other hand thing I will do next but thanks for the ideas!
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Try putting your shoes on in the wrong order. Start up a flight of steps with a different foot. The other day I tried to put on a jacket with a different arm first. I couldn’t do it! I’m glad you reminded me of different things to do.
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Yes, nice and simple ideas. I just have to focus and remember! It is interesting how this can be an exercise of mindfulness.
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I had to learn this skill too because I have tendonitis on my left hand (my dominant hand)… thank God I use an electric toothbrush.
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How was learning it for you? Sorry to hear of your tendonitis. I know how annoying and painful it can be. I have wrist problems, too.
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It’s a big help especially in times like this… oh, sorry about your wrist problems… it’s a bummer…
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My dentist told me to do what you’re doing. By using your less dominant hand you get to different [more] surfaces on you teeth. Cool that you did this.
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I definitely reached other surfaces of my face. What was the thing that gave you the most fun learning?
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Planting perennials in the flower garden. Seeing them grow & thrive OR die. More the former than the latter.
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It is like The Hunger Games, isn’t it?
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😄
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My non-dominant left hand has never been put to the test to such “dominant” task. Good idea. I might want to try.
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At first I thought to open doors with my other hand but I cannot seem to remember it. Yes, I hope you can challenge your other hand and let it surprise you! Any experience you got for the concluding questions?
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