Beauty in the Ordinary

This is not about being brilliant, or extraordinary, it's not about wanting to be famous, or making headlines, or trying to impress...this about sharing a 'gift' each day with the world...to lift the spirit of people when they read this blog, to show them the beauty in the ordinary.
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." Raold Dahl

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Hands...



"Hands...I read this today, written by Jonathan Carroll..."Hands can tell you the real truth about someone.  The way they rise or fall, so often unconscious of their sadness or grace, can signal final defeat or love that hides behind a straight face or cynical smile." I love hands.  It's one of the first things I look at when I meet someone new.  It's a part of our body we don't alter...no botox, no hand-lifts.  The only thing hands might get are a manicure or slatherings of hand cream.  They show your true age, your loves, your interests.  Have you ever seen a cook or a gardener with finely manicured nails?  I love wrinkled knuckles, calluses caused by a fountain pen, a knife, or a golf club.  I love to think of the tales hands might tell if they only had a voice.  I had a Korean hairdresser once who believed the reason we all loved having our hair washed was because it reminded us of being a baby when our mothers would caress our heads."  JP
Michael Gambon's beautiful hands

Itzak Pearlman's gifted hands

Christiaan Barnard's healing hands






12 comments:

  1. I look at pictures of our family and one of the most interesting things strikes me - the men in our family all have the same hand. The same curl to their grasp or something like that - I can't even describe it.
    I look at pictures of my cousin and I see my Father - and it warms me to see that hand ... so familiar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's interesting Katherine. I look at my own hands and I see my mother's.

      Delete
  2. To second Katherine, my brother carries a tool exactly as my father carried a tool. Forefinger extended the length of the tool, thumb and remaining fingers around the shaft. It makes me smile.

    My favorite pictures of my father's, a series he took of each new baby's hand in his old and wrinkled hand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those photos must be precious Joanne. What a beautiful keepsake.

      Delete
  3. I often ask people to hold out their right hand. It is amazing the different ways that people present themselves. Some are floppy, some firm, some keep their fingers together, and others wide apart. I like to think I can tell something of their character by the way they hold their hands... a bit like a handshake.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's interesting Cro...I'll have to try it and see what people do.

      Delete
  4. I love hands too, I've always thought my own hands belong to someone else, weird I know. People say I have nice hands, I see them as belonging to some very old wise woman...perhaps I will grow into them one day. Has anyone read John Irving's novel 'The Fourth Hand' ? It is one of my favourite books from this author...
    "While reporting a story from India, New York journalist Patrick Wallingford inadvertently becomes his own headline when his left hand is eaten by a lion. In Boston, a renowned surgeon eagerly awaits the opportunity to perform the nation’s first hand transplant. But what if the donor’s widow demands visitation rights with the hand? In answering this unexpected question, John Irving has written a novel that is by turns brilliantly comic and emotionally moving, offering a penetrating look at the power of second chances and the will to change."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not weird at all V. When I look at my hands I think they look more like Mum's than mine. I love my girls' hands...they are so different, but both beautiful. Will have to check out that book...I'm a fan of John Irving, thanks!

      Delete
  5. Beautiful Jacqueline...I can see my wonderful Dad's hands now...how I miss them...such a lovely post.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Catherine
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bittersweet Catherine.
      Big fluffy snowflakes falling here right now - how about in your neck of the woods?

      Delete
  6. I love having my hair done - your Korean hair dresser was quite right - so therapeutic

    ReplyDelete
  7. While I am not a spa girl Molly...I do love having my hair washed. Who knew???

    ReplyDelete

Go on...make my day...

Related Posts with Thumbnails