Thursday, September 23, 2004
"There's too many people makin' too many problems, and not much love to go 'round..."
Phil Collins was right! : ) On my travels between classes today, I saw a nice scene. Two young Hispanic kids were embracing next a parked car. She was staring into his eyes, with her head cocked slightly to the side. He was staring back, smiling from ear to ear. Isn't it nice to see that sort of "puppy love" in this day and age?
A few weeks ago on the local news, they had a small story concerning a night-club that was offering a new service. During the afternoon, when the doors normally would have been closed, the owner decided to open a "Cuddle Zone." For a cover charge, you could show up in comfortable clothes, and find a corner on a chez lounge, couch, futon, or pile of pillows and bean bags... and cuddle with a total stranger. The response was fantastic, as many 20-somethings wandered in to nap in the arms of another.
There is something about cuddling that defies science. It is true that all you are doing is applying light pressure to areas of another's body, causing sensory cells to notify the brain that an object is near-by. It is true that there may be no such thing as "touching" at all; that at a micro level, there is a strong repulsion that is perceived as contact. But there is so much more...
People need (in varying degrees) the touch of others. This is often disregarded as psycho-babble, or New Age thinking, but many hospitals are recognizing that therapeutic touch has great benefits. Sometimes a short hug goes a lot further than a week's worth of Zoloft. To this end, we value cuddling subconsciously since our very young years. We have favorite blankets, stuffed animals, body pillows, and so on. I myself had a blanket, stuffed dog (that is still around, literally threadbare... you can see the stuffing spilling out on most of it's body), and a sock monkey that still sits on my night stand. Mr. Sock Monkey will be making a visit to the site in the next month, by the way...
On a nice day, after a long week, when life leaves you feeling sad, after a personal accomplishment... nothing seems to NOT call for a good cuddle. The problem is that in America, we over-value our personal space so much that touch is almost completely absent. So many lawsuits and news stories exist concerning sexual impropriety that we often stray from even placing a hand on the shoulder of a friend. In a land where we demand the right for self-expression, and rarely waive that right, we have isolated ourselves from one of life's truly "good" events.
Today would have been a great day for me to pay my $20 and take a long, cuddly nap. I hope that everyone has at least one person they can pull aside and squeeze from time to time. We never outgrow cuddling! : ) Can you think of someone you'd like to cuddle with?
See ya!
A few weeks ago on the local news, they had a small story concerning a night-club that was offering a new service. During the afternoon, when the doors normally would have been closed, the owner decided to open a "Cuddle Zone." For a cover charge, you could show up in comfortable clothes, and find a corner on a chez lounge, couch, futon, or pile of pillows and bean bags... and cuddle with a total stranger. The response was fantastic, as many 20-somethings wandered in to nap in the arms of another.
There is something about cuddling that defies science. It is true that all you are doing is applying light pressure to areas of another's body, causing sensory cells to notify the brain that an object is near-by. It is true that there may be no such thing as "touching" at all; that at a micro level, there is a strong repulsion that is perceived as contact. But there is so much more...
People need (in varying degrees) the touch of others. This is often disregarded as psycho-babble, or New Age thinking, but many hospitals are recognizing that therapeutic touch has great benefits. Sometimes a short hug goes a lot further than a week's worth of Zoloft. To this end, we value cuddling subconsciously since our very young years. We have favorite blankets, stuffed animals, body pillows, and so on. I myself had a blanket, stuffed dog (that is still around, literally threadbare... you can see the stuffing spilling out on most of it's body), and a sock monkey that still sits on my night stand. Mr. Sock Monkey will be making a visit to the site in the next month, by the way...
On a nice day, after a long week, when life leaves you feeling sad, after a personal accomplishment... nothing seems to NOT call for a good cuddle. The problem is that in America, we over-value our personal space so much that touch is almost completely absent. So many lawsuits and news stories exist concerning sexual impropriety that we often stray from even placing a hand on the shoulder of a friend. In a land where we demand the right for self-expression, and rarely waive that right, we have isolated ourselves from one of life's truly "good" events.
Today would have been a great day for me to pay my $20 and take a long, cuddly nap. I hope that everyone has at least one person they can pull aside and squeeze from time to time. We never outgrow cuddling! : ) Can you think of someone you'd like to cuddle with?
See ya!
Comments:
hey Carl..
thanks for visiting my blog..
anyway.. Singapore is a nice place to come visit.. for a few days before it get really boring.. *LOL* anyhowz.. i'd like to see Mr. Sock Monkey... *hahahaha* Take care..LATERZ!
p/s. i'll be sure to add you into my friends list so i can visit your blog frequently..
thanks for visiting my blog..
anyway.. Singapore is a nice place to come visit.. for a few days before it get really boring.. *LOL* anyhowz.. i'd like to see Mr. Sock Monkey... *hahahaha* Take care..LATERZ!
p/s. i'll be sure to add you into my friends list so i can visit your blog frequently..
I don't know Carl...cuddling with strangers sounds creepy to me, especially if you have to pay for the experience. I mean, I'm all for a good cuddle, but paid cuddling with strangers just seems wrong.
Post a Comment