Touch is powerful. It is a force that can connect two things; people, ideas, objects, words. Anything capable of physical or figurative overlap can touch someone or something. Touch itself is not a physical thing, but rather an idea. It must be put into practice for one thing to touch another.
Touch in the case of humans is usually referring to physical contact. Whether a mother rocking her child to sleep, or a tender kiss from a lover, or clutching a friend in a moment or fear or sadness, these actions all require physical interaction of at least two people. They have positive connotations, as the word touch is often an innocent one. However not all actions that can be classified as touch are innocent; hitting or kicking someone, pulling hair, punching, or pushing are touching as well, with a negative connotation. Humans are very physical beings, and therefor touch is something we pay attention to. The first time you held someone’s hand or smacked a sibling who was playing with your toy, the sensation constitutes the majority of the moment. Memories are often touch based, remembering how something felt rather than the more superficial details.
Touch does not have to be physical, either. A picture can touch your heart; a song can touch your mind. Touch is not linked to one action of poking the person next to you on a long car ride. It is an entire realm of sensory stimulation as well as metaphor. It is a sensual element in poetry, where touch is laded with intentions beyond the act of skin touching skin…in some cases anyways. To touch something you have to engage with it in some way, but it does not have to always engage with you in the same way. In a movie a character gently runs their hand over the picture frame of a long forgotten moment with a parent or sibling, or in a book the heroine squeezes her best friend’s hand as they approach the door at the end of the hall.
Touch can also be used as a generalization to communicate the presence of bonds between things. To refuse to touch something indicates repulsion or fear; to eagerly touch something indicates excitement or anticipation of the act; to hesitate between the two indicates confusion or confliction. Separation, then, is just as potent as touch. Leaving space between things shows they are not connected, or a connection has been broken. When people stand far apart, it is because they do not want to be connected to the other. It is the opposite of touch, and can therefor be seen as providing the opposite message. If you knocked over something expensive, you would step away from it to distance yourself from the action of it falling, and attempt to remove the connection of your proximity to its demise.
To close, let’s do a fun little exercise in your awareness of touch. Before now, you probably weren’t thinking of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth. Your clothes are constantly touching your skin, and your hair is probably touching your ears or the back of your neck at this moment. If your’re sitting, your legs are touching the chair; if you’re standing, your feet are touching your shoes or the ground. your arms are touching your sides, desk, or each other; and you’ve probably touched either your hair or face at least once while reading this post. Isn’t that a fun set of thoughts? Try not to hate me too much.
(Picture: http://www.social-engineer.org/tactics/the-power-of-nonsexual-touch/)