Skipping blithely past the standard meaning of the middle finger, we’ll give it our own: Contribute.

If the first finger is Create, the work I do for pure joy, the second is the work I do for other reasons.

Over the years, the actions I’ve associated with this finger have changed more than any other. Teach at UC. Serve on a board. Volunteer formally at the library and informally at my condo building. Teach writers about StoryJoules.

I see both Create and Contribute as work, but different. Contribute is work that matters, but it has motivations beyond personal creativity.

As for your Hand, label your index and middle fingers with whatever terms best serve your life.

Next up: the fourth finger, less complex to label but just as complex to live.

Chewing the Cud of Good

Thankful that my mom is safely moved into assisted living, and that it was easier than it could have been (even though it was still hard).