ANDRE BEGIN

A few weeks ago, I was washing out a cat food can before putting it in with the recycling, when I accidentally cut my index finger on it. Thankfully, it wasn’t a deep cut by any stretch of the imagination, but it was just enough to require treatment and a bandage.

To me, a cut on the finger is one of those annoying things that can drive you slowly batty. All it takes is bending a little too far or applying a little too much pressure for the bleeding to start again. It’s like death by a thousand cuts… from one cut.

When you think about it, our hands and fingers are amazing little machines capable of performing dozens of tasks, whether individually or as a group. Yet despite these impressive abilities, a little cut can make everything so much more challenging, right? For that reason, maybe we should be extra careful around objects that can pose a danger.

As writers, can we work around a cut on the finger? Perhaps, but it isn’t always easy or straightforward.

Once I patched up my finger with a bandage that inhibited my index finger’s range of motion, gone was my usual typing speed and accuracy. I had to laugh at the way that I now had to hunt and peck for the right keys, which completely broke my flow of what I was trying to write. To say it was an exercise in patience would be a huge understatement. When it came to moving the mouse and trying to perform a left-click without creating a new gush of blood, I had reached my cut-off point with the keyboard.

I tried using a pen instead, but the way my finger was bandaged up, I didn’t have the full benefit of my usual dexterity to hold it properly. The resulting squiggles were barely legible and gave me no lasting clue as to the ideas I was trying to develop.

As much as I rely heavily on my Notes app on my phone to dictate first drafts of blog posts, my mind and spirit were set on doing some heavy editorial work. Whether I liked it or not, I had to go with the flow to avoid more blood flow.

I count myself lucky that the cut healed in about a day and a half, but it was just enough of an impediment to my creative process to remind me to be extra vigilant in the future.

Fortunately, this injury was no worse than a paper cut. Nonetheless, it was still a subtle reminder of the extent to which we rely on our hands and fingers and how we really should take care of them.

I’d like to think that a professional musician might go the extra mile in ensuring the constant health and safety of their hands and fingers to protect them from harm. Why shouldn’t a writer do the same to continue telling the stories they need to share with the world?

Whether writing is our bread-and-butter or our pride and joy (or both), why shouldn’t we be extra careful with our hands to ensure their proper and optimal function at all times?

Did you enjoy this post? If you did, your likes and shares are most appreciated.
If you haven’t already, please check out the rest of my blog at andrebegin.blog. From there, you can click on the “Follow” button to receive future posts directly in your inbox.
Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André