epic steve
Gloves and Neckace
The fidgets. We’ve have them since the 17th century…by that name, at any rate. I’m quite confident, though, that even before 1674, when Nathaniel Fairfax described a spasming object as a “thing that has got the fidget,” people understood that fidgeting could somewhat alleviate anxiety. In fact, I suspect cavemen sitting around the fire idly played with bits of stone and bone in order to distract themselves from whatever was lurking in the dark.
It’s the waiting that makes us anxious. The not-knowing, the lack of certainty. The fidgets are no magical antidote to anxiety. They are only a small comfort against an unreliable future.
But maybe there is a sort of magic there. By fiddling with a necklace, toying with the beard, twirling a lock of hair, twisting a ring we’re able to conjure up some vague sense of relief. What are the fidgets, really, if not a sort of legerdemain, creating comfort out of thin air?
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