The Truth in My Hands

I am fascinated by human hands. They are capable of so much, and each set of hands tells a unique story about the person they belong to. When I first began learning to draw, I started with my own hand. I spent hours staring at it, obsessing over the curve of my thumb, the deep crease running from my palm to my wrist. The sheer amount of detail is overwhelming. The dexterity, the range of forms a hand can take—it's stunning. What began as a technical exercise turned into something more: hands became my symbols. A way of expressing who I am.

I’ve learned that I deeply desire to express myself. Not for applause or validation. I just want to put something into the world that reflects who I am. To say: I was here. I felt these things. I tried. I learned. I struggled. I dreamed. I lived. Creating has become an act of self-respect, a form of self-love in my life.

The hands are not just drawings—they're my personal code. An organized sequence. A philosophy. Each hand is a chapter in the story of who I’ve been, who I am, and who I aim to be.

I’ll share what each hand means.

My soul craves peace. Always has. That means peace within myself—inner stillness, clarity, calm beneath the sun or within a storm. But it also means peace toward others. I can't be who I strive to be if my energy, words, or presence disrupts the peace we all seek. This hand is a commitment to carry stillness, to offer peace.

I love deeply. I feel fully. And that has brought both the highest joy and the deepest heartbreak. The purple and yellow glow in the palm represents both. Love is a sacred force in my life—and also a painful one. But I’ll never stop loving. Pain will never leave me bitter. To love, even when it hurts, is part of my ethos.

Do not mistake my peace or my love for weakness. I will not be walked on. There is bite behind the bark. I stand tall—chin up, chest out. I know my worth. I know who I am. And I will not let you fuck with me. This hand is defiance. It’s self-respect. It’s a complete refusal to compromise my value.

With time comes discernment. A sense of mastery. This hand is about restraint. About poise. About the calm that follows endurance, and the strength from overcoming. Life will pull you into chaos, but I choose how I will respond. I feel the storm—but I am not the storm. I feel the cold—but I am not the rain. Sometimes mastery takes force. Sometimes it takes stillness. But always, it takes resolve.

I am who I am, intentionally. I won’t shrink to fit, lie to please, or contort myself to meet someone else’s idea of “enough”. I carry both pain and beauty, and I will not hide either. The crimson streak is heartbreak. The yellow is joy. This hand says: I show up fully. I come as I am.

I have a code. My lived truth. My path—carved through challenge, clarity, and choice. Each color on this hand tells part of that journey:

• Crimson red marks the pain, the ache, the struggle.

• Gold holds the depth of love and joy that lives in me always.

• Blue represents cool, clear truth. Unshakable. Unflinching. It sets me free. It keeps me me, no matter what it reveals.

This hand concludes the series by pointing at you, the viewer. It asks: Who are you? And why? Because your life—your identity, your story, your impact—is your responsibility. Nobody else can define it for you. This hand is the challenge. The mirror. The call to action.

Six truths.

This is me, drawn in charcoal, represented by human hands. A reflection of who I am, and who I choose to be.

We are, after all, the artists of our own becoming. And who you are is up to you.