I wrote this rambling before the pandemic but for some reason just kept it back!
TOUCH, to me, is to feel, to connect, to make contact… and in the subtle sense… it is YOGA, after all Yoga means UNION!
It was late afternoon, she took her seat on the crowded train, and nodded a greeting and smiled at those around her and those sharing her table. But no one looked up, or even acknowledged her presence, for each person was surrounded by their own technology bubble. They were plugged in to their own world, a reclusive world, ear plugs and headphones cutting them off from outside reality. If their eyes weren’t closed, they were poking and prodding at screens large and small, glued to words or two-dimensional images. Are they really aware of where they are, she thought? Are they here and now…or in some other remote dimension of their own?
Mmm… she mused, what if all this constant prodding and poking on the hard, unyielding artificial screens created a kind of callus over our sensitive fingertips? Protecting them, but taking away our ability to use these remarkable super tools, that can caress a baby’s cheek, a lovers body or feel the myriad differences of textures from wood to wool… a sense of pleasure and connectedness… are we losing touch?
Ha, she mused… I could start dying of a heart attack and no one here would notice until they had to walk over me, or would they? Are we losing touch… our connectedness?
She looked out of the window at the cold but lovely blue-sky day. Green fields, hills, trees, rivers, farms, and little stations whizzed past her vista, like a fast forward movie. She took a deep breath, how lovely was nature! She gave a long sigh. We are even losing touch with the Earth, no wonder we are still polluting our environment, we are not even aware of it half the time and we feel apart, not a part of it! It beats me how humans can think that they are separate from nature, after all what do they think their body is made of? How did it grow? food from the earth, water and air! Clouds started to appear, scurrying across the bright blue sky, and covering the view of the Sun… I think there must be an analogy in there somewhere she thought.
She took a deep breath and returned to the interior of the train. Her fellow passengers were now either asleep or looking quite de-energised within their techno bubble. Are we losing touch with the wonder of where and what we are? Glancing around, a fellow traveller across the way caught her gaze and smiled at her… they connected through that smile, and it felt good!
She continued contemplating the current situation. All this virtual connectivity through texting, is so basic and superficial, one can’t hear the joy or the unhappiness behind the words or see the expressions that reveal fake or truth… but rather use simplistic symbols, made by others, to represent feelings… unexpressed. Even face time and other technologies that include an image, facial expression and voice… we can grow too dependent and use them to replace real visits.
Nothing beats visiting and being visited…where we connect,
where we hug,
we kiss,
and we touch!