Thinking About Hands: Beautiful, Useful and Expressive

Happy Valentine's Day!

My hands aren’t beautiful and elegant like some of my friends, or elegantly or funkily manicured like others of my friends or students. They're not even young anymore.

I do think there is a deeper beauty in them though, in what they can do, express and make.

I talk with my hands.

I draw, paint, print, assemble, and de-construct.

I perform with them when I do photo shoots, the gestures they can make are vital in the full sense of that word, and full of meaning. As a child I learned that traditional Indian dance is as much a formalized language of hand gestures as of any other kind of movement, and I can understand that despite my natural disinclination to formalized anything, lol.

My hands are very plain-looking, but beautifully capable, working hands.

It was not until a recent morning walk that I realized not only how much I owe them, but how much I actually love them for what I can count on them to give me every day.


What do you think about your hands?
Do you think about them at all?
Do you have a manicure and manage to dive into art-making or gardening regardless? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.