On the Other Hand

It's been a busy week, both physically and mentally ... but more of that another time.  For today, I thought I'd focus on just one tiny incident this morning and it's significance to me.

It was as I was preparing my breakfast - almost the first task every morning, after switching on the Wi-Fi hub and plugging in my phone to charge - and specifically as I poured the hot water onto the tea-bag.  This is essentially a one-hand job, since there's no need to hold the mug and the tea-bag isn't likely to make a dash for it to escape its scalding drench.  I happened to notice where my left hand was, resting over the edge of the worktop, and how it was held, totally unconsciously, in a clutching posture as if mimicking the action of the other.

This casual observation brought to mind an occasion maybe two or three years ago - possibly much longer, the way time has flown recently - when I had injured my right hand.  Whether because of a cut or a sprained wrist, that hand was hors de combat when it came to breakfast preparation.  Maybe I had still been half asleep, but I recall looking down to see that the left hand, totally unbidden by my conscious brain, had taken the jam-jar by the lid and was offering it to the right forearm to clutch it to my chest ready to open it, almost knowing instinctively that its partner would be unable to perform normally.

The more I've thought about this, the greater has been my realisation of the extent to which we focus our attention on action, what is actively going on, to the exclusion of what's happening in the background.  How often have we seen on our media screens shots of statesmen giving their press conferences at the end of auspicious meetings or talks and seen them shaking hands in a gesture of peace or co-operation?  Compare this to the amount of attention we have given to what they are doing with their left hands at that point.  Are they firmly anchored in a trouser pocket?  Are they held out to balance an insecure posture on the rostrum?  Or are they brought up to support the other hand in a warmer and more embracing grasp of their corresponding speaker's hand?  Even further in this direction - and probably not seen in a diplomatic setting - is the application of a left hand to the right shoulder of the other party.

There is a Biblical precedent for one, most undesirable, 'other-hand' activity (I'll leave it to my reader to discover it), where it's occupied in retrieving a hidden dagger and plunging it into the body of the supposed 'friend'.  I hope that this isn't an application that we would entertain!

However, there is mileage in applying in a bodily sense these thoughts of what an 'other hand' might be up to, to our current circumstances.  It could be of universal benefit if we were to open our eyes beyond what are our 'main hand' activities and realise how our 'other hand' capacity could be applied in helping those around us as we all try to cope with the challenges of daily live in this 'Covid age'.