What is Touch?
In the website www.freedictionary.com, touch is to cause or permit a part of the body, especially the hand or fingers, to come in contact with so as to feel. According to www.mc.miracopa.edu, there are three types of touch: Passive Touch, Active Touch and Social Touch. In this post, allow me to have my own types of touch: Ordinary Touch and Human Touch. What is the difference between Ordinary Touch and Human Touch? Ordinary Touch is physical contact that does not cause emotional feeling/s. Example: When you’re inside the MRT during rush hour you would probably experience some unintentional elbowing - that’s called ordinary touch. Basketball players encounter multiple body contacts while playing basketball in the hardcourt. The game involves ordinary touch/es.
Now, what is Human Touch?
Let me explain Human Touch by stating some personal experiences and observations.
Everyday I always try to make it a point that I play with our pet dog/s. We have two dogs at home. One is so sweet and the other is quite scary to touch because he is always jealous. Mirmo is the charismatic dog and Jepoy is his opposite. I love them both but I can only show my affection to Mirmo because Jepoy after allowing me to touch his white fur would suddenly have a change of mood. A dog bite is synonymous to multiple injections. And multiple injections cost thousands that is why I am already delighted staring at him in a distance (Hehe). On the other hand, each time I go outside the house, Mirmo would instantly go near me as if he is longing to be touched. He is so playful but he behaves when I start touching his head and his body. If I stop, he would move his head closer to me until he gets my attention back. Isn’t that sweet?
In July 1995, we also had a puppy named Lassy. After few months, he got sick. He had high fever that lasted for more than a month. Eventually, Lassy died. At a time that Lassy was ceasing to live,” the whole family gathered in the living room and surrounded him. The next scene was the most unforgettable. Minutes after my brother and I cuddled him in our arms, he died. Was he just waiting for our touch before he breathed his last?
Pia Magalona, widow of the late Francis Magalona, in one of her interview she shared some moments of Francis M. before he died and she said“…si Francis dumating na sa point na nararamdaman na nya yung sakit kahit na may pain reliever (Francis came to a point that he couldn’t resist the ache even with pain reliever). Francis couldn’t sleep so he would tell me to hold his hand. Then Francis would fall into sleep” (It wasn’t exactly like that but the message was comparative). Isn’t that mysterious?
When we saw an old friend, what do we normally do? We embrace them, right? When a man proposes marriage to his girlfriend, what does he do? The man holds the girl’s hand before asking “Will you marry me?” When a job applicant gets hired, the interviewer would end the conversation by shaking the hand of the applicant. That’s usually the case, isn’t it? When a loved one is emotionally wounded, how do we comfort him/her? Aside from uttering some cheering words, we would either pat their shoulder or hug them.
Above are just few examples of Human Touch. There are absolutely more to add in the list – thousands, millions, or billions, perhaps. Human Touch is a simple gesture. It may be illustrated in different ways. But the effect is enormous - we feel loved; we feel comforted; we feel relieved; we feel welcomed; we feel so special. However, human touch isn’t always good. It can also be used to abuse others (e.g. murder, rape and physical maltreatment).
If Ordinary Touch does not involve emotional feeling, Human touch is about love or cruelty. However, I believe God originated Human Touch. He uses human form so we could feel His love for us. So, let us not abuse it. Instead, use it to show others that we care; that there is hope; that they are important. So the next time you do the human touch, think how do you want others to remember you: A loving person or someone that others wouldn’t want to be with or worst wish you didn’t exist?
