We are haunted by the spectre that we are alone, islands unto ourselves, neither belonging nor beloved. Our entire lives, we strive to bridge that gulf, to find belonging in a community, to claim a special place in someone’s heart, someone’s arms.
We are social creatures. Our sense of self comes from being in relation, seeing ourselves mirrored in other’s attention, feeling comforted in the embrace of another’s love.
Connection is a delicate, tenuous art. We can never really know what is going on inside of another person. Just as often, we are confused about what is going on inside of ourselves.
The sweetest, truest and most direct channel of communication is touch:
- A recent study conducted by the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and the University Hospital Essen, this comprehensive analysis delves into how consensual touch can significantly enhance our mental and physical well-being… Touch, a simple gesture of connection, has been found to hold profound benefits for our health. The study reveals, “yes, touch substantially improves both physical and mental wellbeing, for example via reduction of pain, anxiety, depression, and stress in adults…. Whether a long massage or a brief hug, the impact on wellbeing remains substantial…. The more often a touch intervention is offered, the greater the impact,” Packheiser notes, suggesting frequency as a key factor in the healing power of touch. wakeup-world.com/2024/04/13/the-science-behind-touch-transforming-mental-and-physical-states/
Tango is nothing if not touch. Join me in the upcoming blogs as we explore the healing power of Tango touch.
Beautifully said Aydan.
Thanks for your affirmative comment.
You speak about finding affinity with others; the difficult part is finding those who share our same childlike wonder and joy at the beauty of the universe. Ideals become reality when we actively look for them. Along the way, most people stop trusting that those things exist and stop seeking them out. It’s obvious that people today who do not trust experts and governments have little trust in each other on a personal level. And it seems like many are afflicted by this. We respond to the world according to our trust level. I refuse to be corrupted by cynicism so I am still shocked every single time I encounter people who have little faith in goodness and kindness.
As a novice dancer, I implicitly trust the direction of the more seasoned leads (unlike what Henry David Thoreau would do 🙂). Some are better than others at trusting my capability as a follower. I enjoy dancing the most when my partner trusts me enough to give me allowance to try new steps that I do not know. But the dancing partnership is an ever changing dynamic from the first step to last. I appreciate the fact that I’m growing as a person because I keep on dancing with leads who might not have initially been receptive to me and vice versa. The more I dance with them, the more I realize that I am having fun with them, too. I am so glad that I trusted myself and them to be a worthy partner to continue dancing.
What an incredibly thoughtful, insightful response. Curiosity, vulnerability, creativity and trust are certainly the principal components of fashioning a bridge of connecting. Thank you so much for bringing so much of yourself to the dance.