The Wisdom of Our Hands: Crafting, a Life

A guide to living fully and humanely by learning the wisdom of authentic manual work.

Many of us live in a world of constant abstraction, immersed in our heads and our screens. But there is a deeper wisdom to be found in working with our hands in the real world. In The Wisdom of Our Hands, craftsman and educator Doug Stowe shows how working with our hands, either professionally or as a hobby, is essential for a full education and a full life.

Based on his 45 years as a woodworker and 25 years as a teacher of handcrafts, Stowe argues that human beings have a natural need to express themselves creatively through tangible work. The use of one's hands and whole body to make physical things and reshape our surroundings promotes both physical and mental health and fosters a sense of mastery in both young and adult students.

A life of craftsmanship offers the opportunity and obligation to define one's own values. Drawing on his experiences living and working in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a town dedicated to handcrafts and arts, Stowe demonstrates how craft work can create community, forge deeper social bounds, and foster a saner attitude about the value of human labor and material goods.

Written for everyone who wants to reconnect with the deep experience of the human body at work, The Wisdom of Our Hands is a quietly radical call to spiritual (and physical) action.