Thursday, July 29, 2010

Come on Lefty!

As a scientist, I work a lot. This should come as no surprise since any progress in my career depends largely on how much data I procure, and being the type A personality that I am, I want to do well. This is no doubt why so many scientists are workaholics, and we engender a culture where working 70+ hours a week is considered fundamental to being a great scientist. Okay, okay, before scientists out there skewer me for saying that, I will say that I think this culture may be shifting a little bit. I do think that more scientists are placing greater value on their life outside the lab, which totally makes sense to me. Lab work has a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and I think weathering the emotional storm that is lab work is more easily navigated if you have something other than work to fulfill you.

But I digress...

The reason for my above really comes down to one thing that I am determined to achieve, which is getting a hobby! It's true that I enjoy reading, but I wouldn't exactly consider it a hobby. Plus, I want something that keeps me active since my brain gets a workout everyday. I decided to try ballet. Now I am sure some of you are experiencing the same thing my husband did on hearing this announcement, namely an attack of the giggles, but I assure you I am serious. For the past six weeks, I have been taking a beginning ballet class, and it has been great! I'm not sure how far I will go with it, but I find it fun and challenging.

Here is the main thing I have learned, though. The left side of my body is not in communication with my right side. While my right side is doing a fair rendition of Swan Lake, my left side looks like it is taking a cigarette break. My right side is Cinderella and the left side is the ugly stepsister. What is up with that? It's true the right is my dominant side, but apparently I didn't know how dominant. I am hoping that more ballet classes will help with this, but until then I will continue my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde version of ballet. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

Jenny said...

Your left side does correspond with your right brain/the creative side! Perhaps, too many hours spent in the lab have made you too left-brain/right body dominant?? :)

J-Funk said...

Aaaaah! I am so impressed you are doing this! Maybe you can learn to be more ambidextrous? Although personally I've never had much success with that. But at least you can make your left side participate more, even if it's not elegant...

Mandy said...

This is something that I really have to see to believe....