Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I wonder how important physical touch is for a person mentally and physically. I guess being a very touchy person myself it is hard to imagine not being able to ever touch another person. I hug just about everyone, my husband actually get irritated because it take me 20 minutes to leave any family function because I hug my whole family before I leave. If I did not have the ability to touch others I could not kiss my kids goodnight, hold hands with my husband, and enjoy just sitting and petting my cats. I don't think I would really be content if I could not do those things. From the time we are born it seems we are hardwired to need to be touched and touch others in return. A crying baby is soothed being held and/or having her back rubbed. We also reach out at an early age to grab for someones hand or hold their fingers. When we are young and we fall or get hurt it is mom's kisses and hugs that make it all better. As we get older and we are sad it is the hugs and comforting that can make the pain and sadness bearable. Physical contact gives us a connection to others, a sense that we are not alone. I am not sure that anything else can compare or replace that physical and emotion connection. I know I would never want to try.
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I agree with you. Althought I am not a touchy kind of person I do feel like one needs touch. When I was in a relationship with my boyfriend from High school if he didn't kiss me when he came to my locker in the morning I always said something "like why aren't you kissing me" it was just weird not to greet your girlfriend or boyfriend when you first see them with a kiss. I feel like not only is kissing or holding hands a sign of intimacy but it can also be sign of respect. Like you wouldn't walk past a family member especially a grandma without hugging them do something right? Even older people show signs of intimacy like sometimes holding hands or cooking for them. Either way intimacy plays an important role especailly in our society!
ReplyDeleteI think Amber's point about touching as being a form of respect is very interesting. If we think about Helva as being conditioned from birth to be able to cope with physical touching, how might that change a person? Do we see her funnel that need into a different sense? Does she experience the ship as her body?
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