After Steve Wiebe, 38, a teacher near Seattle watches his two children go off to bed, he settles into a space in the garage between the hot water heater and his lawn mower and in front of a vintage Donkey Kong device where he applies nightly effort to either maintain or regain his world domination of a senseless pursuit.

You can imagine the fingers flashing at the control stick and buttons. You may even remember your own hunched form, standing in intense concentration of body, eye, hand and mind.

There is a quality of self that emerges when hand, eye, and mind are totally engaged. As Steve Wiebe describes, "I was looking for something that I could be in control of... I felt that everything in my life was being decided by others. Donkey Kong was something I could do, and if I failed I would have no one to blame but myself."

These same sentiments might have been expressed by someone seeking renewal of self and soul in a garage workshop, making beautiful things from wood. As Mr. Wiebe's experience shows, activities integrating hand, eye and mind are vital expressions of our humanity.

In years past, our human essence was expressed through hand crafted objects made with beauty, care, attention and love. These objects could be held, admired, shared and used to make life more meaningful for others and oneself. Now, we fill our homes with empty, meaningless objects, and our lives with meaningless distractions.

There is something very lonely and sad about about the emptiness of the digital world... human engagement reduced to numbers and score. (Personal note: Dear Steve, I wish you success in your world record and in maintaining your high score. Do you have room in that garage for a workbench? How about sharing some of your hand skills by making things with your children from wood? I'd be glad to help you get started.)