This week, the Diva
challenged everyone to draw a tangle using their non-dominant hand. This was,
admittedly, a bit frustrating. It’s so much easier to control a pen with my
usual hand. The results are a lot better, too.
The Diva's Challenge #373 |
On the other hand, it
reminded me of something that’s been on my mind off and on for several years.
We don’t know what the future holds for us. More specifically, we don’t know
what capacities we may lose as time goes by.
What if I lost the use of
my right (dominant) hand? I would have
to use the other hand to draw. It’s good to know that I can manage some sort of
drawing with my left, if I have to. But it would be very distressing,
nonetheless, as so many of my hobbies involve work with my hands.
Most of my hobbies also
involve my eyes. So I ask myself, if I couldn’t see very well, what would I do
for entertainment? I like music, but it isn’t a big part of my life. I could
still listen to books, thankfully, though I find listening to books slow and
rather frustrating since I can’t flip back easily to check earlier details.
(This is especially awkward for mysteries.) I could still go for walks and I
could still enjoy gardening to some degree, since I’ve always been interested
as much in the scents of plants as in their appearance.
Other people have
different hobbies that require different capacities. For people who love to go
hiking or rafting, being unable to use their arms or legs well would take away
a source of joy. Other people would hate to lose music. And for people who love
to cook, losing their sense of taste would also mean losing a favorite activity—how
can you enjoy cooking a new recipe if you can’t taste it?
My point is that I would
be wise to cultivate some hobbies that don’t use exactly the same capacities
that most of my other hobbies do. Maybe I should cultivate more large-motor
activities, in case my fine-motor skills deteriorate some day. Maybe I should
take more of an interest in music, or in conversation, in case my eyes give me
trouble.
There is also the
possibility that some day my cognitive skills will deteriorate (may that day be
FAR away.) I will still have time to fill. Perhaps, in that case, familiar,
simple tasks would be soothing.
What might these be?
Knitting an endless scarf in garter stitch? Doing simple jigsaw puzzles?
Peeling potatoes, maybe, as I remember Grandpere doing when he was no longer
capable of cooking on his own? It seemed to me that he felt better when he was
contributing in some way. Perhaps I should find out what activities people can
generally manage in this situation and cultivate some of them. You can’t peel
potatoes automatically if you haven’t peeled a whole lot of potatoes beforehand
with attention.
Someone whose name I can’t
remember came up with a chart that categorized activities as high- or
low-energy, and high or low in sociability. His point (I think it was a he) was
that people should cultivate some activities that fall into each of these four
groups. Sometimes people’s energy levels will be low, in which case reading
(low sociability) and doing jigsaw puzzles with other people (high sociability)
might be good options. Or their energy levels might be fine, but there aren’t a
lot of people to do things with, so they need some activities they can do by
themselves, like going for a walk.
The recommendation was
aimed at older people, but when you think about it, it’s a good idea at any
age. I’m suggesting here that it just doesn’t go far enough.
Till next post.