Handy Thought List

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Handy Thought List

People say the eyes are the windows into the soul. But it’s the hands that are the latches/door handles.
You can make eye contact with somebody across the room, and immediately make a connection. But the first physical touch, that electric tingle when your fingers brush theirs for the first time, gently probing, searching for that elusive first hand-hold—that’s when they’ve let you into their soul.
Some days I look at my hands, their boniness, their hairiness and long fingeredness, their general largeness, their lines, and I think, “Gosh how unattractive.” I have man-hands.
But then sometimes I see my hands and stagger myself with the amount of expression they manifest. Dulcinea says my hands have character.
I can do a pretty good deal to change my physical appearance. Foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, rouge, wigs, glasses—these are all focused on the face and eyes. They are for strangers.
But there’s really so much you can do to change your hands. Makeup really just consists of nail polish. So you can’t really use makeup tricks to hide the underlying structure of your hands like you can with your face. And even then, it’s just appearance. Not how your hands feel—the strength of their grip, their softness, their structure.
Hairy or not, painted or not, my hands are me. I’m stuck with them. They are ever so much more identifying than any retinal scan could be. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Unlike the eyes, hands are for touching, feeling. In that respect, they’re close range sensors, and not for everybody. Touch is so much more intimate than look, and I find myself saving it for only my closest friends.
I felt a small sadness this morning, settling into my core as I got ready for work. I was removing my beautiful nail polish, which I was so proud of. It marked the end of a great weekend, and as I rubbed the cold, volatile remover over my nails, I wished I could have worn my polish on through the week—but it’s not really possible to do that.