Hands And Their Consequences
Hands are the first things to grab us and bring us into this world, hands are at the root of our conception. And once we’re here, every move we make, every way we sustain ourselves is dictated by our hands. From our survival; using our hands to feed ourselves, raising our hands to break a fall; to the thousands of unconscious movements that make up our days; pulling the covers up a little higher, turning off the lights. Hands are the path between our wants and their realizations.
In this book, we begin with a focus on hands in the context of Strength and Creation. We can start with The Creation of Adam, in which Michelangelo depicts an entire iconographic scene, covering 500 square meters of ceiling, encapsulating over 300 figures and what is the takeaway? The only part that is instantly recognizable, to almost every person, everywhere, is the relatively small panel showing the hands of God and Adam and the 1.9 cm that separates them. This, of course, is creation in two senses. The creation of man: the creation by a man. Both possessing the strength to make something new.
In our second chapter, we take a look into hands as they Love and Comfort. The guiding hands of a mother, the hand that pulls you up when you fall, the hand you use to hold yourself after a bad day. There are times when a single stroke of a hand through your hair means more than a thousand “it will get betters.” Where words fall short, hands persevere.
The friend of love, though not necessarily its companion, is sex. Primitive. In chapter three we explore the primal: Sex and Violence. The ways our hands can move before our minds catch up. The hand that wants. The hand that needs you, grabbing you, hurting you. The hand that reacts.
If we can take these reactions, these primal urges come to fruition, and zoom out, we arrive at Religion and Politics. Hands outstretched to the sky, or held together in a tight clasp. Every religion uses them and governs them. The virgin’s hands in prayer, her son’s nailed to a cross. The hands praying for us to not use our own on each other; the difference of heaven and hell being the gold band placed on the finger of a hand.
The hands we hold together, making us more sure of one another. Faith built by way of an open palm. Trust by firm a handshake. Allowing ourselves to be led by the hands in front of us, pointing which way leads forward.
We end with the consequence of without. Sometimes carefree; without hands without weights. Our minds liberated beyond our bodies. Sometimes wanting so badly to feel those hands, a concrete touch that brings us back to ourselves. We’re searching, scouring, and still can’t seem to find one. When we try and we try but we still remain without.
