You Need to Touch


Harlan Jacobsen Copyright © 2004


Few publications have ever touched on the way we touch and what it means to us. My dictionary lists 60 separate meanings of the word touch.   It is one of our most basic forms of communication.  Author Desmond Morris says, "Something special happens when two people touch each other physically, whether it be a handshake, a pat on the back, or a slap on the face."

    TOUCH IS COMMUNICATION
One thing is sure: touch establishes communication, and what is transmitted has more meaning than words. Touch communicates involvement. It means you care that you are really supporting the other person.

From the moment of birth, touch is the medium through which we first become acquainted with the world.

Psychologically, it is the first means of communication between the newborn baby and the mother. It has been proven that a large percentage of babies who are raised in an orphanage and are not handled and touched, rarely get past the age of two; they literally wither away.

Messages the baby picks up through the skin are enormously important. The way the parent holds the newborn, the pressures, the caressing, the cuddling, influence the way he or she grows and develops. The frequency with which you were touched as a child as a direct relationship to your responsiveness as an adult. As a child, for whatever reason you were touched, whether it be play, punishment, bathing, etc., it all had an effect on you today .

Chances are, if you were touched often and lovingly as a child, there will be no area of your body where you will not want to experience the pleasure of your lover's touch. On the other hand, if your memories of being touched by parents, relatives, other children, bring forth visions of punishment, rejection or abuse, even though you are a grown person now, your body will withdraw from touch fearing further hurt or the return of painful memories.

This is your mind getting in the way, telling your body not to enjoy feeling today, because of some unpleasant experience in the dim past. Without touch stimulation, humans cannot function properly. Those of us who have not received enough touch stimulation early in life quite likely can't establish "good contact" with others. They "rub"' people the wrong way. Many of our delinquents today received little touch during childhood.


    OUR ATTITUDES TOWARD SEX

Our early touch experience is so important that it becomes the basis for the most massive of all touch stimulations-sexual relationship. People who have had proper touch experiences are not as hung up about sex as individuals who have not. Unfortunately, most Americans are non-touchers. A well-brought-up American will apologize to anyone they touch by accident. It is considered almost an attack on one's integrity.

You probably have never thought about touching in these terms before, but now is the time to start. It can be a whole new beginning for you in the world of sensual, sexual, loving touch. Granted, deeply ingrained fears aren't easy to overcome, but aren't the rewards of a full, deep, ever-expanding sensual fulfillment worth the effort?

Studies of primitive peoples indicate that they know the importance of touching. And because of this, they seem happier, healthier. Today, the value of touching is more openly accepted by younger Americans. They are no longer afraid to put their arms around each other. They're not as worried about remarks people may make. They're beginning to feel freer about it.
    HUGS ARE GOOD

All of us should realize that the taking of the hand or arm of another or putting your arm around another's shoulders without feeling self-conscious is fundamental at appropriate times. You ought to be a warm, loving, cooperative human being. One of the essential ways of demonstrating this to others is through the way you touch them. You touch them with words and ideas. And you touch them physically with love and affection .

The importance of this touching can no longer be denied. At the end of social gatherings, you have heard, "Let's keep in touch." You've heard of "touching scenes." Both expressions tell us more explicitly than literal language how people feel. For example: a touchy subject, a soft touch, a touch of genius, put the touch on, rubs the wrong way, your words touch me, etc. Personal touch is a basic biological need.

The Importance of touch is evident in the way people greet each other in different parts of the world. In Russia, it is the bear hug; in France a kiss on both cheeks; in Rome a pinch on the cheek. Polynesians greet each other by rubbing noses and patting various parts of their visitor's body. In South America some tribes paint their visitor's body and adorn it with feathers, and in Hawaii the tourist is adorned with a garland of flowers around the neck by way of greeting.

Americans use the handshake, a form of greeting which tells us more than we may realize. For example, the cold, limp, withdrawn hand conveys a feeling of not being welcome, whereas a firm, warm, friendly hand can become the sign of a pleasant meeting .

And note that one of the largest selling records of all time was the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand." The touch experience is an important part of the boy-girl relationship.


Next Issue: the 9 steps in the development of an intimate relationship, and the role touch plays in each.
Read Part 2: Importance of Touch


 


 

Tell Your Single Friends About This Article And Site, Send Them This Page Or If They Do Not Have A PC, Print Out The Article For Them  
You Need To Touch 
Top of Page   ||  Dating Again 101 Index

      Dating Again 101 dotcom


      Home


       

      Free Dating Again newsletter edited by Harlan Jacobsen
      Sign up for 
      Free Dating Again newsletter of tips to help make new  relationships a part of your life. Edited by Harlan.
      Click here  to sign up


       

      Free Email 8 Day Course, on Dating Again,  Get Going
      Free Email 8 Day Course, on Dating Again, "Get Going" to a better life. Start your course by sending a blank email.
      click here  

       


      Privacy Policy Reprint Our Articles
      Reprint Our Articles
      Information Here 


       

      Free Country Singles Newsletter edited by Janet Jacobsen
      Our Free Country Singles newsletter edited by Janet Jacobsen
      Sign up today!

      Our Arizona Singles newsletter with Janet's tips on being single in Arizona
      Sign Up 


       


      working on a great  as a single person
      Single Life Coach 
      is our site for those worked thru their divorce and are working on a great new life as a single person, click here 
       


       

      Singles Talk Shop
      Singles Talk shop, online support
      Singles Talk shop, online support,
      go chat

       

      Country Singles
      online site with midwest singles clubs calendars, personals, archives of articles etc.
      Country Singles is our midwest Newspapers online site with midwest singles clubs calendars, personals, archives of articles etc. click here


       

      Midwest Personal Ads
      Midwest Personal Ads,
      Click Here


       

      AZ Single Scene
      AZ Single Scene 
      AZ Single Scene is our Arizona newspapers online site. With AZ singles clubs calendars of events, AZ personals, Articles selected by Janet Jacobsen, archives of articles etc.  click here



       

      AZ Personal Ads
      AZ Personal Ads,
      Click Here

       

       

      18 Wheels Singles
      18 Wheel Singles is our web site for those in the trucking industry and interested in meeting those in the industry  click here

       

      Sex Again 101
      Sexual Singles Information Site ...."Respectable" Sex Again 101, click here

       

      Our Advice On Your Mature Sex Life, A Sex Education and Information Article on What Works, click here

       

      Mature Sex Education for Sexual Singles part 1. "Guilt without Sex", click here

       

      try out our other sites we maintain
      Please try out our other sites we maintain, click here