The Creativeness of Hands

I've noticed in many of the old photos I've seen of my grandparents-so many show them using their hands to create something. While they obviously used their hands to do the necessary-cook, garden, tend to crops and barn duties, clean, do the wash, care for children, etc., whenever there was an opportunity, their hands got busy in a different way-a way of relaxing and making things; stimulating their soul after a hard day's work or after completing one task before getting on to the next. Maybe that's why my aunts, mother, and grandmother got together once a week for what they called their 'Busy Fingers' Group. They'd take turns hosting the group. I remember times when it was at our house. They were always laughing and talking!

Of course back in my grandparent's day television was a non-factor. There were no zillion channels with still nothing to watch. Texting wasn't a word. Communicating was face-to-face. And when that moment came-that break in the day-when there was time for one's self-out came the knitting needles or crocheting needle or the sewing machine was humming or rags were being ripped into strips for braided rugs or a saw was cutting wood into pieces and shellac was painted over boards turned into bookcases and desks-or hands were holding magazines like The Saturday Evening Post or books were being read in a chair in the front parlor.

It's not that creating has stopped-not at all. There are amazing artisans doing amazing work-painting, sculpting, sewing, knitting and so on. I think the difference is that back then-after putting in very hard days of never-ending chores-they had to, at the end of the day or whenever they could, muster the energy to create-and they did. And they did it masterfully!