On Touch as Mercy, Witness, and a Necessary Risk. A note exploring why touch matters, how its absence shapes our choices, and the quiet power of human contact.
Powerful reflection on how touch functions as a primary language before we ever learn to articulate needs verbally. The Gib Jones story cuts deep because it exposes how isolation compounds suffering when people are already navigating vulnerability. What stuck with me most is how you frame touch not as comfort but as recogntion, the way it signals safety to the nervous system. I've seen similar dynamics in hospice settings where a simple hand hold can shift someone's entire physiology, but we underestimate how much that applies outside crisis too.
Beautiful. It makes me think about how touch starved many are in this country. I hope people can find the language to ask for that touch. Or, to just be in the space to have the capacity to ask for that touch.
This is a beautiful piece reminding us of the power of human touch. I remember those days during the AIDS crisis and how people in our own community shunned people with AIDS. For someone who was dying of AIDS, just holding their hand, wiping their brow, resting a hand on their chest, or simply being present could bring some bit of comfort - and an acknowledgement that they were still human, worthy of love.
Powerful reflection on how touch functions as a primary language before we ever learn to articulate needs verbally. The Gib Jones story cuts deep because it exposes how isolation compounds suffering when people are already navigating vulnerability. What stuck with me most is how you frame touch not as comfort but as recogntion, the way it signals safety to the nervous system. I've seen similar dynamics in hospice settings where a simple hand hold can shift someone's entire physiology, but we underestimate how much that applies outside crisis too.
Beautiful. It makes me think about how touch starved many are in this country. I hope people can find the language to ask for that touch. Or, to just be in the space to have the capacity to ask for that touch.
This is a beautiful piece reminding us of the power of human touch. I remember those days during the AIDS crisis and how people in our own community shunned people with AIDS. For someone who was dying of AIDS, just holding their hand, wiping their brow, resting a hand on their chest, or simply being present could bring some bit of comfort - and an acknowledgement that they were still human, worthy of love.