The holidays for me is sometimes an opportunity to do some work that is normally put off. Since I had to get a new water heater recently, the workbench space was disassembled to create a path for the unit to be put in place. This gave me the motivation to redesign the area a bit. One task was to put up a shelf unit that would store the tools I use. Since I have a quantity of rails and wood all cut to uniform dimensions (from a previous since retired project) I thought I would build a shelf using these components. As many projects are, it is taking a lot longer time to do as some of my construction techniques are not working. A pre-designed shelf unit that can be assembled in minutes and not hours is starting to have some appeal. After writing this blog though I will no doubt look at this as a challenge and continue.

I recently came across an article that poses the question; Is technology hurting us by making life easier?. This is a timely article considering my choice to custom build a shelf. My life definitely has not been made easier but when (and not if) I complete the shelf unit I will have a tremendous feeling of satisfaction and be that much smarter in what does and doesn’t work in creating such a structure. Reflecting on this article I will admit to sometimes using a GPS unit without knowing even in rough terms where my destination is located. And I do succumb to navigating to a website by typing part of the name in Google search and not trying to remember the full address. While this article is not specifically about ‘working with hands’ I am finding a correlation. Even if one makes use of power tools, even if one uses a kit with clear instructions and all the ingrediants or parts provided, creating something with your hands will never be a quick and easy activity. Inherently it takes a certain length of time. Inherently it is often a challenge to do. THANK GOODNESS!

I leave you with this cartoon sent to me from my daughter.

I tried, but other proposals got picked to do a live pitch on November 13th at the documentary market event Doc Circuit Montreal. I did have something prepared in case The Creative Touch got chosen. So rather than feeling sorry for myself, I am going to do my pitch in this blog.

So there I am standing in front of a HUGE crowd (hey it’s my fantasy so I am allowed to exagerate). I am not too nervous as I have my crib notes. The first thing I do is ask who in the crowd does activities that involve complex hand movements such as gardening, home repairs, knitting, pottery making, elaborate cooking. Let say 90% put up their hands. I would then ask those 90% if they think, over a period of a week, that they spend at least four times as many hours in front of a screen as doing activities with their hands. I would guess the answer to be 99%. I would then point out that most of humankind, before the digital age, has spent the majority of the time using their hands as there was no choice if they wanted to survive. I then ask the audience whether this is progess that hands aren’t as essential anymore? Are we not better off having all these very powerful digital tools at our disposals?

Based on these two repesentations I would argue, since hands occupy such a large amount of brain real estate, that complex and active use of hands has a VERY important and positive effect in our lives. While our culture has changed, our bodies have not. We are losing out on a lot when hands’ main purpose is to type on a keyboard. This principle is the basis of what the Working Hands Project is about.

“The documentary proposal I bring you tonight is all about the creative ways we use our hands”. At this point I playback the 3 minute video pitch on The Creative Touch idea. After the screening I field questions from the now spell bound audience. I can also, dear reader, answer your questions. You can add these and your own comments by clicking below.