Massage therapy is a beautiful art form. Gliding with the muscles of the body, maneuvering around bones, while ensuring your touch hits the right pressure points are all the same yet different depending on who your therapist is or who is being massaged. While our physical structures usually follow a blueprint, we also know the ways to use them to create art. We use our tools. Our arms and hands, our legs and feet, our eyes and voices are all used to create.
I think this shows how little we really need.Technology is such a convenience but I have found myself always yearning for the "old school" ways of doing things. I want to write instead of typing. I want to walk instead of driving. I want to garden and put my hands in the dirt. Technology is so helpful but I think it is important to remember our natural tools. Look at your hands. All of the muscles and bones, even your skin, are tools! If I'm only focusing on the hands I can see how our fingers help us pick things up or give a signal. The muscles in your arms allow your fingers to move the way they do. Our arms help us to carry things or dance. We have things in our environment to help us create what we need which gives us purpose. It gives a sense of well-being when I make things with my hands. Or even when I walk a long distance. So, I am writing all of this to say, let's go to our nature.
Working with our hands helps to improve our mental health. Working with our hands helps our brains grow. That's why it is so important for us to give children opportunities to learn crafts they can do with their hands and I do not mean video games ha! I mean, building their fine motor skills which helps their brains develop, giving them skills they can take anywhere with them for a lifetime. So imagine, little Vontay has learned to play the piano since he was 7 years old and now he is 27. He has developed a skill he can use to monetize if he chooses, he also feels AMAZING while doing it. He is likely to do it no matter what because it makes him feel so good. He's got the dopamine going so he will keep going back to that skill. I imagine the same connection with a carpenter.
Our society has prioritized office jobs and made manual labor seem like it is not as important or desirable when in reality, manual labor is the basis for everything we have now. How would we be able to work in a building in those office jobs without construction workers? That is a skilled worker using his or her hands to create. This is not about which is better, this is about our instincts. Our nature, our innate desire to learn, our innate desire to create. It is time to go to our nature. We have everything we need attached right to our bodies but we've been made to feel like we need all of these extra things outside of ourselves to live a fulfilling life and I just do not believe it is true. While I sit in my air conditioned house and go outside to sit in my gas powered car, I absolutely appreciate the conveniences but I also realize how important it is to use my body to create.
Let us remember the simple things like writing, drawing, walking down the street, sitting outside, singing, dancing, or playing an instrument. When I started making candles in 2017, I loved that I was making them with my hands. It felt so empowering. The results of what I create make me feel good about myself and good about life. Now that I am a massage therapist, working with my hands to help people feel better is reminding me of how much our bodies can do. My hands, arms, feet, and legs are my tools I use to help release tension in your muscles. What do you use your tools for? What will you create today?