International Lefthanders Day – Why I Love Being a Lefty

It’s International Lefthanders Day so I’m celebrating in true lefty style, by writing a blog post about it!  Lefties only make up 10% of the population making us pretty rare – this wasn’t always a good thing; in the middle ages if you were left-handed you were likely to be accused of being a witch (some of us still might be ;-)) Also in the past, left-handed children were forced to write with their right hand.

Left-handed people adapt quickly (in a world where everything is designed for the right-handed), I learned drumming right handed because I didn’t want to be walking into gigs and changing the kit around every time.   According to Oxford University, left-handed people have better verbal skills (I can talk for Britain) although apparently it affects academic performance, it’s also linked to mental health problems (specifically Schizophrenia), and Dyslexia but is an advantage in sports especially boxing (packing a punch with a powerful left hook).  Also, interestingly, left-handedness is more common in twins – thankfully, there’s only one of me!

It’s apparently a myth that left-handed people are more creative (but I’m owning it!) although left-handedness is associated with thinking about things differently and literally seeing things differently on a page (left handers are drawn to the left of a page whereas right handed people are drawn to the right).

I love being left-handed, it’s a bit different, it feels more creative – like I’m always coming at things the “right way” and going a little bit left – that’s how I’ve created my business after all, taking the lesser (lefter) known path.

Some of my favourite lefties in the world are:

Lewis Carroll – one of my favourite writers, I wrote my dissertation on nonsense literature and Lewis Carroll in particular.  I even named my little sister Alice after the iconic Alice (it’s her middle name but hey, I still prefer Alice to Emily – sorry Em if you’re reading this!)

David Bowie – LEGEND – my favourite musician of all time (and not just because he’s a leftie)

Jim Carrey – Love Jim Carrey, find him interesting, inspiring and intriguing as well as pretty funny!

Marilyn Monroe – an iconic actress, I have loved Marilyn forever – the fact that she was left-handed just makes me love her more

Kurt Cobain – smells like teen spirit – love him, such talent, the soundtrack to my youth

Sting – If you follow me on Instagram you probably know already that I LOVE Sting – he must have the sexiest voice alive, right?

Albert Einstein – Genius – literally (must be because he’s left-handed! ;-))

Oprah Winfrey – Oprah is probably the most iconic and inspirational woman of our time.  I loved discovering that she was left-handed, she’s sensational.

Neil Armstrong – first person to walk on the moon, had to be a leftie (and Buzz Aldrin was too – points for just his name alone.  Random fact: I once put Aldrin forward as a potential name for a company based around Buzz Aldrin – it was relevant to the industry)

Steve Jobs – love him or hate him, Steve Jobs was a true visionary and one of the greatest entrepreneurs to have ever lived.  As he said “the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do”

Gordon Ramsay – I know, people aren’t always keen on Gord but I love him – I like a bit of fire although he blows my excuse that I can’t cook on my left-handedness!

Paul and Ringo – 50% of The Beatles line-up was left handed including song writer Paul and Drummer Ringo (big it up for the left-handed drummers!)

Ludwig Van Beethoven – I’ve got a lot of love for Beethoven.  One of the greatest musicians of all time and yet he was deaf.  Isn’t that just so inspiring?  Ludwig the lefty.

Mark Zuckerberg – I’m not actually a big fan of Mark Zuckerberg and I also cannot stand Facebook (ha) but you can’t deny that the man is a genius and understands the middle ground between human behaviour and technology better than anyone

Who is your favourite left-hander?  Other than me, obviously! 😉