A few years ago, I switched the mouse at work from the right side to the left of my computer to give sore tendons a bit of a break. For a few days, it felt like writing in the mirror. Everything was backward, there were even moments in which I couldn’t get my hand to do the things I imagined it could. That is, my left hand was stymied by what my right hand could do with sheer muscle memory. It felt unnatural.
Within a week, though, I started to forget which hand reached for the mouse. Now, I find myself moving the mouse on other computers to the left side. The left has become the right side, for a mouse anyway.
It’s funny how difficult—and how forgettable—change can be.
Advertisement
