To Touch or Not To Thrive

Good Monday Morning!

I love National Geographic.  I have learned so much about our world and its people and I'm happy to pass my issues on to my grandchildren.  

Now I have an issue with this issue, "The War on Science."  Lots of great information about our human denial regarding many scientific findings and events, for example the moon landing.
Also included is a short article on promoting "fist bumps" instead of handshakes.  Now I must protest.

Human beings need touch.  When deprived of touch infants fail to thrive, and we do not outgrow our hunger for touch.  When I visit a senior member of our family, she makes it a point to ask me for a hug while standing.  It's a long and satisfying full-body hug.  We are both better for it.

We were not a family who spontaneously and purposefully hugged.  Our mother's parents were not huggers, so the pattern was not there to pass on.  At some point in her personal growth, my sister Judith began hugging us.  We found we all liked it and it has become a warm and welcome addition to our relationships.

The premise for substituting fist bumps for handshakes comes from the concern about transferring germs from hand to hand.  And with all the viruses running rampant in our world, I get it, but how far are we willing to go in the name of safety?  

We exchange energy through our hands.  My chiropractor is an excellent example of therapeutic energy exchange, as are all the hands-on therapists we invite to touch us.  I once had a massage therapist whose touch was at first excellent, then became intolerable as she (I later learned) became addicted to drugs.  We do not shake hands simply to be polite.  We learn about people by touching them and receiving their touch, and the handshake is the acceptable ritual to achieve that touch.

What's next, that we stop touching one another all together?  Are hugs next?  NO.  At least not for me. As a civilization we must insist on touching one another to survive and live in harmony.
I believe that should we cease touching one another for fear of infection, we will find ourselves infected by conditions more virulent than any virus: paranoia, rage, depression, and other emotional illnesses brought on by deprivation through isolation.

Breathing into health through touch,
Phyllis

P.S.  I've written a letter to the editor of National Geographic, so I've had a full rant today :)  Breathing....