.....Anyway, I'd taken a couple drawing classes fairly late in life; and astounded myself by finding that I could draw fairly well- I made very rapid progress for awhile. So anyway, I thought it might bring a few thousand new neural pathways into play; if I tried some left-handed work.

.....I put the pencil in my left hand; and just sat there without any real inclination to begin. After a few moments; I got to daydreaming. I'd just about decided that I really wasn't serious about left-handed drawing. Then it almost- not quite; but almost- seemed like my left hand started moving on its own. I thought a bit about what I was drawing; but not like I usually do.

.....I sat with an eraser in my hand; and the hands seemed to work it out between them; that the right was the assistant; and it was his job to erase. Drew slower than usual; but with less need to erase. I can't say that the drawings were any better- but they weren't much worse- and they seemed like they had a small; but noticably different style. It scared me a little- it almost smacked of automatic writing; and the occult- but I rationalized that I wasn't invoking unclean spirits; just trying a drawing exercise- still, felt a little guilty.

.....For two or three weeks, I'd add a little left-handed drawing as a nightly encore to my regular practice. I signed all the drawings in mirror reverse; so I'd always know that they'd been done weak-handed. The damndest thing I ever experienced; was when the left hand ran into a drawing problem he could't solve. Without me conciously willing it; he handed the pencil off to the right hand- who obligingly did a brief demonstration for him; after which he'd sucessfully draw it on his own. This happened several times. And I know it sounds like I'm just clowning- but on some level; yeah, it felt auomatic; while in another way, I had a vaugue impression that I was pretending. I mean; both are right; and both are wrong.

.....I guess one night I'd already been up too late; and I skipped the nightly practice- and before I knew it; I'd dropped the practice altogether- with no clear sense of exactly when; or why. I picked up the pencil left-handed the other day- nothing. Don't know if its because I didn't wait long enough; because I've kinda let all my drawing skills get kinda flabby lately; or some other reason. Anyway, has anyone else ever experienced anything like this ? RVM45