The last two-three months have been thinking about hands a lot. This must seem like a crazy thing to spend your time thinking about. But why not? Why is something we use every day not thought of and appreciated?
I was on the bus a few months ago when a man comes on and sits across from me. I didn't quite look at him but focused on my iPod and probably how I have to get rid of those Russian techno songs from 2008 off. When I do glance up, I notice one of his hands is in his pocket and the other is out on his lap. He has a prosthetic hand. I forgot any manners and as if I was 5 years old stared for a few seconds. Children when they see something different, or new take a good look at it. And question it. They don't remember manners, being nice is not in their mind, they just want to know why? What is it? They ask their mom, not in a whisper, why that person is the way they are?
For a few seconds I felt like that 5 year old, until I stopped, remembered these manners. It is not as if it was my first time seeing a prosthetic hand before but for some reason it made me stop. Stop and realize how easy life is. And how amazing people can be.
Let us go back to this scene, he came on the bus and sat down. Now let us go through step by step this process. What do we begin with? We know the bus is coming, we prepare ourselves. We take out our wallet from our pocket. Or need to unzip our purse. Then we try to unstick these bus tickets from stick to each other, or rip them apart. The bus arrives we step inside and put the ticket into the machine. And grab a transfer. We look to the back of the bus to find a spot. However, the bus starts moving before we sit. So we grab into the poles and swing ourselves to the back to find a seat. The bus swerves a bit and we grab on tightly to a pole to avoid falling over. We take hold of another pole to drag ourselves up to a seat.
Take hold, grab, unzip, take out, in this simple bus process we use our hands numerous times. We don't even realize it. How our every day routines without our hands can become a day of such difficulty. I sit now and have put on Soul Surfer. A movie, based on a true story from 2011 about a young girl who was bitten by a shark while surfing, she lost her arm. Watching her process of working with something she didn't have to work with before. Something as simple as cutting a tomato. Opening a bread bag.
Like this man on the bus, the beginning must have felt impossible. Why me? The famous why questions that 5 year old would be asking. Why is it like this? I don't have an answer for why. I don't even know if there is a sort of answer. Instead, we can say what? Or how? What can I do now? And how can I do it? It has to be different than before, but there is a way.
What do I still have? Family, friends, interests, etc. That all has not changed, some may have, friends might have a different contact with you. But like those kids asking questions they just see it as something different that they do not understand. Maybe sometimes these situations can also show who is the most important in your life and who may be sort of disposable. Some people may need more time, we all react differently to situations.
But returning back to what you have and what you like to do. When I see this girl swimming and surfing with one arm. I cannot believe what I am seeing. I cannot swim and to see her preforming like this. We had a family friend who was paralyzed after an accident when he was younger. For years he spent his time in a wheelchair, unable to move. The only movement was his mouth. We cannot imagine how depressing those first few years must have been. And at such a young age, when you have so many plans for what you want to do, suddenly seems to all have halted. But now for the past few years we have had a painting hanging that was painted by him. And he created many beautiful paintings over the years until he passed away. That painting still hangs around and sometimes staring at the details you cannot even imagine how much patience mentally and physically was put into it.
I think about graphic design, how I need to use the keyboard to design. I think about taking photos. How the shutter button to take a picture needs a click with a finger. How even turning pages in a book or spreading cream cheese on a bagel all requires these parts of a body. They are just parts.
- an amount or section which, when combined with others, makes up the whole of something.
- some but not all of something.
- leave someone's company.
The second definition works the best. It is not everything but just some of something. And when I think about Bethany Hamilton, I can't imagine how strong her arm must be. Imagine arm wrestling with her? She'd be insane to beat.
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