Essay #4 Expressing Love through Touch

    Touch is a way of communication that refers to any physical contact between people. Life begins by the first touch of the doctor and ends by the “touch of death.” Human beings cannot touch without being touched themselves. The feelings that accompany the physical touch differ according to circumstances. These feelings could be incredibly pleasant if coming from lovers, and could be annoying coming from unfamiliar people. It is hard to imagine the physical relationship between a man and a woman without touch. Could there be any kind of relationship without touch? It is a debatable question. Still, I can surely admit that despite different personalities, a person shows his/her love by touching those whom he/she cares about. It could be in the form of hugging, holding and stroking. I believe that close relationships are not possible without touch.
            I divide touch into two types. The first type refers to touch among relatives, friends, parents and children. Touch is the way of communication in family relationship. This kind of touch is full of warmness and care. When I was a kid, I was used to wait for my parents to come back from work. I was excited to see them. I also wanted a physical contact as a proof of their love. The kiss, hug or cuddle from parents was the way I felt secure and loved. It is not normal if a kid was grown up without being consoled by parents. I am myself express my love by touching the people I adore. For instance, I love and respect my friends. If I want to express my feelings to them, I hug them. That makes me feel happy.
            The second type is the touch that applies to lovers, described mainly as sexual relations. Every touch can express sympathy, appreciation, admiration and a sexual interest. Holding hands, kissing and embracing are how partners show love to each other. Margaret Chuong-Kim declares in her article that “gentle touch facilitates physical and psychological functioning, particularly in terms of reducing stress, relieving pain, increasing the ability to cope, and general health ratings”. Thus, touch can provide not only satisfaction in relationship but also can enhance person’s health.

Touch can describe love without words. I can say no words, still I can kiss my lover when I am going outside and coming home to show my concern about him. The simple three words, “I love you,” can be said without any word. Physical closeness encourages growth in relationship of lovers. Physical touch is a confirmation of love. Rare physical contacts are evidence of problems in a relationship. When partners do not get enough of them in relationships, troubled thoughts come to mind about the change of partner’s concerns. They begin to ask themselves: “Maybe she or he is not interested any more in me? Am I not satisfying him/her enough?” This example is an evidence of significance of touch in a relationship.
            Moreover, touch in a relationship could be divided into two categories, i.e. sexual and non-sexual touch. Both are important in a relationship. There is the opinion that men care only about sexual touch, and men’s physical contact contains the sexual message, while women are more interested in non-sexual contact. It was proven that the first year of relationship of men and women accompanies with intensive sexual than nonsexual contact. Though there is more of non-sexual contact in following years. However, both kinds support and maintain the relationship between couples.
            Thus, touch is a powerful communication tool that makes life happier and healthier. There is no way to avoid physical contact among people. The psychologist Zur, O. points out that “touch is often referred to as the mother of all senses’ as it is the first sense to develop in the embryo and all other senses-sight, sound, taste, and smells are derived from it”. Touch is the way of life for human beings. Touch advances good mind and soul. It is a powerful tool in relationships, and familiarization with its effects is an influential way to get success in correlation.