touched...

Today in the CSS wood shop first second and third grade students will do Paper Sloyd exercises designed to expand their spatial sense and capacity to do accurate work in the wood shop. This afternoon I get the bulky bandages off my fingers and thumb and will be able to go more lightly bandaged and have greater use of my hands.

I have been touched by the level of concern over my injury. It seems that many friends from throughout my community knew of my accident and expressed concern. Friends have told me that I've been in their prayers. Emotions are nearly always expressed in the language of the hands. Feeling, touching and being touched are the deepest expressions of our humanity.

Even within the singular human being, the creative use of the hands has profound implications on the sense of self. Being hands-on engaged in the processes of life brings feelings of connectedness, wholeness, completeness, capability, power, control, value. And to be deprived of the full use of the hands for even a short time as I have been begins to have impact on the emotions, the powers of attention, focus and thought.

One of the symptoms of depression is the loss of a sense of control within one's own life, and one of the most sure and certain means to regain that sense of control and sense of self is to be deeply engaged in hands-on expressions of our humanity.

Of course woodworking is not the only way. There's gardening, music, cooking, crafts of all kinds and caring for the needs of others, young and old.

And so you can imagine how it feels for me to be working my way back to work. The photo above is from my morning class. Students, too, were glad to be back in woodshop.

Make, fix and create...