Member-only story
A Near-Death Experience Taught Me The True Power Of Loving Touch
“The choice to express love towards others, even when they are in the wrong, is a valid one.”
Just a few hours ago I woke up from a dream. In this dream I was at my childhood best friend’s house. I went downstairs to the basement and I saw her aunt sitting quietly by her lonesome at a small table located to the side of the dimly lit hallway. She was crying.
“Are you okay?” I asked her. She looked up at me and did her best to muster up a small smile as she nodded yes. Of course I didn’t take her word for it; I also knew it was silly to ask if she was okay when she was clearly upset. But that’s what we do when someone is crying, right? We ask nonsensical questions when we already have the answers, because tradition instructs us to?
I approached her and gave her a hug. When she wrapped her arms around me in reciprocation, I could tell she was just being polite. So I hugged her even tighter. She finally felt vulnerable enough to cry some more and embrace my body authentically.
“Nobody touches me,” she told me afterwards as she dried her tears.
It is amazing how touch can speak louder than words sometimes. We show people we love them and trust them through the mutual touching of arms and bodies through the infamous hug. We touch lips when…