Giving a Hand

Just give me a hand, please.

Appreciation of what we commonly take for granted is a worthy enterprise. How much do we move through our day and not really notice what is important in our world? Drink a glass of water, without hesitation about the source. Turn a dial on the wall and our living spaces are cozy and warm in the winter.

Do you realize how much is available in our own touch? Just the touch of a loved one, even as a simple gesture, is a delightful form of communication. The feel of a fine piece of wood such as walnut is like satin when sanded to a smooth finish and simply finished. I just used walnut on my fireplace mantle. Wood craft workers can sense uneven spots in wood with their fingertips that may not be apparent to the naked eye.

Using ones hands to make some form of personal expression is a great joy. I have learned so much in the time I have spent in a watercolor painting class over a 7 year period, which was really finger painting for adults. Ok, we were using brushes. Times spent in joyful, rewarding experimentation are not counted as time taken from ones life, rather time invested in the whole of a life. I am a great believer in experiments. That is, as in the enjoying of new ideas, and experiences. Some people believe the time of learning in school is what they finally escaped upon graduation. Further on in this time line of life than our youth, so much more can be taken in with the skills and perspective collected from previous experiences, so that the rewards are greater, and the horizon expands.

Most of the fine arts produced in earlier times and kept as a part of the human record are works of the human hand, mostly by holding a brush or a chisel. So much strength and delicacy are present in our hands. If you have ever had an injury to a finger, it is suddenly apparent how much these parts of us are important in any kind of efforts. That opposing thumb advantage we have allows us to be quite a uniquely complex machine. Replicating the complex abilities of the human hand in an artificial hand has been a quest of designers for a long time. When we are face to face with friends, hands can tell quite a bit about what is not said aloud, and is really a good measure of what is going on in the whole communication.

As a young man, I did not appreciate the nuances in a handshake. I was just a young man, and now find the greatest satisfaction in the direct handshake with another adult. All handshakes can tell their own story, if you appreciate the nuances. Actually, I will admit, a wonderful hug is altogether another thing. I believe the handshake might have had historical implications in that one could see that an unknown person was holding no weapon. Can anybody confirm this?

So in the quest to respect and appreciate all that we are, just give me a hand, I mean applause. Sorry.