We feel with our hands. We think with our hands. We speak with our hands. We count with our hands.

We do everything with our hands.

For instance, how many objects do you handle every day? Dozens, maybe hundreds. And your rapport with these objects is vital. You might take your toothbrush for granted, but you’ve had to learn how to use it, by trial and error, with the help of parents and siblings, gladly or not gladly. Teeth, health, breath, cleanliness, looks, family dynamics: directly or indirectly, they all reside in your toothbrush. And it’s thanks to your hands, wrists, and fingers that you can maintain your playful dialogue with the toothbrush and its meaningful stories.

Be alert to your objects and to your relationship with them. And let your hands, wrists, and fingers be the agent of your intelligent dance with the objects.

Write a poem about some of your objects, then chant the poem out loud. Use your hands, wrists, and hands to choreograph the poem as you chant it. Because—you know, you speak with your hands. You think, feel, and count with your hands. Hands are “the whole of you, in disguise.”

I’m employing the word “poem” informally, to mean a sort of organized alertness in the form of a list. Making lists isn’t obligatory. But being alert is obligatory, now and always!

For the Love of Objects

Kitchenware: knives, forks, spoons, peelers, cups, plates, bowls, sponges.
Toolbox: hammers, screwdrivers, nails, screws, wrenches, pliers.
Bathroom cabinet: toothbrushes, Q-tips, soap dispensers, loofahs, nail clippers.
Office supplies: pencils, pens, notebooks, paperclips, erasers, rulers, scissors.
Bookshelf: knickknacks, bobbleheads, candlesticks. Ah, yes, books.
Assorted: yo-yos, rubber duckies, harmonicas, finger puppets.
Music studio: music stands, metronomes, tuning forks, scores, mementos.
Cello case: cello, bow, rosin, mute, earplugs, chamois cloth.

What can your hands do, with objects and with anything else? The true list is infinite, but we’ll make a finite list for the sake of alert practicality.

Hands, Wrists, Fingers

Grab, grip, clutch, clasp, snatch;
Seize, clamp, hold, pinch, catch.
Press, push, slam, tap, pound;
Mold, shape, trace, weave, bound.
Flick, punch, squeeze, jab, smack;
Point, wave, snap, nod, crack.
Twist, turn, spin, switch, wring;
Toss, throw, hurl, drop, fling.
Pick, pull, tug, yank, slide;
Shift, swipe, stroke, rub, glide.

You know what your life really is like? Computer and hands, musical instrument and hands, bath and hands, cat and hands, vegetable peeler and hands, Band-Aid and hands; hurt and hands, heal and hands; hands Monday, hands Tuesday, hands summer, hands winter. And you know how it all works? A creative impulse passes through you, and your hands react with their own incredible creative adaptation: writing, doodling, playing the cello, caressing your lover, helping your child, learning, sharing, enjoying, and celebrating life.

My book Hands, Wrists, Fingers: Creative Health for Musicians will be published by Anthem Press in October, 2025. You don’t need to be a musician to enjoy the book, its many exercises, its 200 photos, its 36 video clips. All you need is hands to order the book, hands to flip through the book’s pages, and hands to applaud the writer.