108 Ways to Livin the Moment
Let’s take back our lives one beautiful, funny, and delicious moment at a time
#4 of 108: Â Hold a Stranger’s Hand…Even for Just a Moment
When is the last time you held a stranger’s hand?
“But that’s weird,” you say.
What’s really weird is the lack of contact between human beings.
In the ancient and more evolved cultures, like India, human contact is totally normal, especially between straight men.
As stated in the India based website Sulekha,
“The first time (you see straight men holding hands), you are shocked. Eventually, you get used to it. In between, you go through various stages of reaction—puzzlement, wonder, curiosity, disgust, grudging acceptance, repulsion, etc.
“The sight is a common enough one in these parts— grown men and teenaged boys holding hands in public like lovers that cannot bear physical separation from each other. This, in the same society where even incidental contact between the opposite sexes is still taboo.
“But men cannot stop pawing each other. The way they carry on is enough to unleash the latent homophobe in most of us.”
A few years ago, after returning from India, I conducted an experiment. I had someone with a video camera hide while filming me attempt to hold hands with unsuspecting people.
Their reaction was, as expected, not positive. Watch the following…
As Kathleen Price said, “You are not here to save the world, but you are here to touch the hands that are within your reach.”
Hands down my *F* moment of the day, even though it’s a little sad, too.
Watch how people recoil from an accidental touch of a fellow student in yoga class – both toucher and touchee.
Rie hi! so so true…how people recoil…
great to hear from you and thank you for taking the time to comment. How’s life in H-town??