There’s an old horror movie from the ’60s in which a concert pianist has the hands of a killer attached to his arms (after losing his own in a car accident). The hands take over his life and he starts killing people willy-nilly.
Foolish you say? I’m not so sure….my hands have, on occasion, overridden my brain with disastrous (though not murderous) results.
For example, many years ago I took a job in a city an hour’s drive away. For three years, I drove to the end of my road in the morning and turned right onto the state highway taking me east. Our town was to the west. Every day I drove that route, Monday through Friday.
It surprised but didn’t shock me when, after those three years and I took a job in a closer town, my hands steered that car eastward every morning.
My new job would require me to continue straight on at the end of our road, crossing the state highway and proceeding south. But several times in that first month, my hands would turn the wheel to the east, and off we’d go. I live in the country, so finding a place to “turn around” cost me precious minutes. Of course, I could just turn on the next road going south and weave my way through the country. But…
I had forgotten about this trick of my hands –overriding my brain – until last week. I bought some special facial cleanser from my Avon lady. I intended to use it in the shower and see if it, indeed, made my skin “feel softer and cleaner than ever before.”
My showering routine hasn’t changed in the past five or six decades – get wet, shampoo and lather, rinse, condition, rinse, wash body. Shampoo, rinse, condition, rinse, wash. Shampoo, condition, wash. That’s it.
I was excited to try this facial cleanser, so the first day, I hopped in the shower and immediately my hands took over my brain. I shampooed, rinsed, conditioned, rinsed, and then remembered the facial cleanser. Oh well, I put it on and it felt very luxurious. Almost pudding texture! I rubbed it all over my face and noticed that it got in my hairline. I wasn’t sure that was a great idea, as it took a while to rinse out and I vowed to use it first the next day.
The next day, I got in the shower, got wet, shampooed, and rinsed –oh, drat! I forgot the cleanser. I grabbed the tube, squirted some in my hand, and applied it to….my hair! All over my hair was this pudding-esque substance that wasn’t rinsing out well. Naturally, I had to shampoo a second time to get it out. I forgot the facial cleanser that time, too and just skipped it entirely.
On the third day, I used the facial cleanser first. It was easy. I just spent the whole morning before my shower repeating “face first, face first,” like a mantra.
My hands got the message, but gosh they are willful. Leaves me wondering what they’ll do next!
I am hoping my hands will continue the job of getting my breakfast ready and allowing me to eat it all up ! Not having to think about what to do really relaxes my mindlessness!!! Othwise, too much time thining makes me need a nap!