I know hands are not essential for survival but they can definitely be useful when one has them. Some people don’t have any and some people have one. Most people have two. I am among those who have two, and both mine work. I like my hands a lot and I am glad to have them.

A few years ago I was in an altered state and in that state I happened to look at my hand. As I moved my fingers and watched their movement, I was struck with wonder at the fact that I had a hand. And then I noticed my other hand, and was amazed that I had TWO hands!

My hands are not identical to each other. They are both called hands, and they share many features, such as four fingers and a thumb on each hand, fingernails, skin, some hair, lines and creases, blood running through each, bones, muscles, etc. But there are many dissimilarities as well, which makes it feel strange sometimes to refer to them both as just “hands”. They are not the same.

My right hand is my dominant hand. It has trained its whole life to do things that my left hand has only watched from the sidelines. It can write (very easily, and in ways that makes my brain feel good), hold things steady, exercise a high level of strength, and overall has more instinctive initiative than my left hand. My left hand is more passive, laid-back, shows up in a supportive role, but has no main character energy. When I try to write with it, my brain gets exhausted so quick. But I love both my hands for being my hands, and it is okay that they are not the same.

I like doing things with my hands. Eating with my hands is very pleasurable especially when there is no cutlery as an intermediary between my hands and my mouth. I like tactile experiences, touching different textures and feeling temperatures and materials. I also like cooking and doing crafts and related things. Earlier tonight I spent a lot of time carefully cutting out more than 100 discussion cards that I had printed at Officeworks even earlier tonight. I really enjoyed that. It was slow, careful, repetitive work that helped me focus and be present and feel calm, and the 300 gsm paper felt really nice in my hands.

Hands. What a gift. Thank you life.