The Hands of a Clown

When I was in the 9^th grade I broke my leg because I thought I could do a back flip off the bleachers in the Gym. I was supposed to be warming up for the first day of Wrestling practice and I was full of myself after I had already proven my skills in regular PE class and the coach assured me I would win a spot on the team if I tried out. I ended up on crutches with a full leg cast for 3 months and that was the end of my sporting career.

One of the projects during my recovery was an oversized paint-by-number of a sad clown with his hands clasped in his lap. It took a long time to finish and as I proceeded I got better so the edges were rough but by the time I got to the middle it started to look good. Everyone who saw the finished painting remarked how lifelike the hands were and even I had to admit they had a spooky quality that far exceeded the rest of the painting. I remember working with particular detail on that part of the picture but not because of my skill but rather the genius that drew the lines for me to follow.

The rest of the painting was unremarkable if not below average, maybe that's what made the hands stand out as being so good but only compared to the rest of the story. Isn't that the way with most of our accomplishments? We may get one part perfect but that fact gets lost in the mess when the rest of the project is only mediocre and disguising all our best efforts. A true artist is gifted from beginning to end but the rest of us have to work our way up to greatness and that means we are just ordinary for most of the journey.

Even Sherlock Holmes was never as interested in the content of the character as he was in the character’s contents. He would get more information from an inspection of the suspects hands than the interrigation. You can tell more about a clown by his real hands than by his real face. Just like a Hollywood actor, you won't find the truth in their face after the Doctors finish lifting but you can still find the real age by looking at their feet, or hands. The next time you wonder why someone won’t look you in the eye, be careful they aren’t looking at your hands instead.