12 May 2026 Call me Lefty

by Robin Murphy

I’m in a coaching group that likes to keep things interesting and one of our recent assignments was to write with our nondominant hand.

The idea is that this strengthens your brain. It supposedly builds new neural pathways to improve focus and other things that sound very worthwhile, at least until I actually pick up my pen.

It’s not like my regular handwriting is even close to calligraphy, but with my left hand, it looks like I’m writing during turbulence while wearing oven mitts.

So I keep practicing, knowing that the point isn’t to write well, it’s to wake up a part of my brain that usually gets to relax in the passenger seat while my right hand does the driving.

Growth is weird in real time. We like the idea of it, especially the finished version, but the actual middle part is awkward and clunky and takes longer than we think it should.

Right now, we’re in that stage with Maya, our AI phone agent. We’re teaching “her” to answer calls, explain our services, talk through pricing, and help people when our office is closed. Eventually, we hope she can help with schedule changes and other customer support tasks, too.

Some moments make us stop and think, well, this is pretty remarkable, and others remind us that “intelligence” and “fully trained” are not the same thing.

But that’s the work. We’re not using AI because we want to replace the human side of our business. We’re using it because we want to be more responsive, especially when someone reaches out after hours or needs help with something simple and time-sensitive.

My left hand is not ready to write a novel. In fact, it’s going to be a while before it’s ready to address an envelope. But it’s showing up for practice. And sometimes that’s what progress looks like before it gets its hair brushed.

Cheerfully,