Hugs, anyone?

Today I'm feeling a little bit like these women.

Maybe it is just the culture at my school, but I've noticed that fewer and fewer people are comfortable being touchy-feely with each other beyond hello and goodbye hugs.

Both my significant others left in October (and are coming back in December), so this left me feeling pretty affection-deprived until recently. I started wondering... how do we cultivate relationships in which touching is okay, especially since it isn't a big part of the culture we live in?

Thus:

A few weeks I approached some friends, and asked how they felt about the above question...

So far, it has worked out well! The people I approached were all pretty receptive. They continue to be more than willing to snuggle, hold hands, and show more affection in general.

Once that "no touching" boundary was broken down, these friendships became much freer; there is now more laughing, and personal or slightly taboo topics are easier to talk about. There are no more awkward "oops, sorry!" moments when we bump into each other. It's not a substitute for the intimacy of lovers, but it is a different, almost as wonderful type of intimacy.

One particularly nice moment was when a friend and I took a bus home for this Thanksgiving break. For the majority of the ride, we just sat with legs across laps, holding hands and chatting. It was quite a long bus ride, so we fell asleep after a few hours, snuggled up in the uncomfortable bus seats. When we woke up, we had a good laugh when we realized that the people in the seats across the aisle probably thought we were going out.

Conclusion: I'm not the only one who gets affection-deprived easily :) Maybe next time I need a hug it'd be easier to go stand in the quad by the dorms with a "free hugs" sign...