It’s great to be back writing and drawing again!!!!!

Hi everyone and beautiful Universe for being here with me today after four years.

A few years ago I read a very interesting article in one of those free magazine you get at the train station about the importance of touch. The subject resonated with me so much it gave me a great reason and motivation to write a new post, but unfortunately due to live circumstances I stopped writing and left this post as a draft :((. So, as you can imagine I feel extremely happy to finalise this post and sharing it with you all.

Ever since I can remember I always felt and had the intuitively believe that touch was healing and profound, that can strengthen connections, heal, communicate, influence and soothe.

About four year ago, the article I read was confirming that touch is one of our most powerful and important functions for a long-term well-being, it’s as important as food and security. It is one of the few human necessities, but in these days of digital and diarised existence, has relatively little importance.

The article read: “the stratospheric rise in the popularity of virtual connections, like WhatsApp voice notes and emojis, over face-to-face communication which gives an insight into the current human psyche. Yet, while our lives are changing rapidly, our brains and bodies are not. Anxiety and stress are skyrocketing, with all kinds of suggested causes; from social media and 24/7 email availability, to life choices. With a multitude of suspects, our need for touch is mostly ignored. When we experience a lack of physical contact, fundamental human needs are left unmet, particularly around our relationships and our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing”.

Research shows that when there is greater physical affection during childhood, the rates of adult physical violence are lower. On the other hand, when touch is limited, physical and verbal aggression is higher. The results have been found in both adolescents  and children. Needless to say these rates has increased after the last three years.

Tanya Goodin, digital detox specialist, author of ‘OFF’ and ‘Stop Staring at Screens’, and host of new podcast ‘It’s Complicated’ explains: “The problem in our debilitatingly digital age is we’re swapping human-to-human contact for device-based interaction. When we spend too long in the online world, we’re substituting the long-term powerful effect of the ‘hug hormone’ oxytocin for the short-term ‘hit’ of dopamine, the ‘do it again’ hormone.”

Tanya Goodin continues saying: “… Worryingly the body’s reaction to social media triggers similar hormone responses to that of a hug. “When we get ‘likes’ or online interactions from a stranger or vague acquaintance, our brain fires off dopamine, which interestingly is also the chemical associated with addiction. This feels great, so we keep going back for more. But screen interaction can’t build oxytocin, which relies on physical presence, so we’re building one at the expense of the other. Nothing we do in the online world can replace that deep chemical bond of trust and love and, simply put, we need the power of touch as much as we need food and water in order for us to survive.”

I hope you enjoy the reading and like my pastel painting. I leave you with the following wonderful statement from Canadian author Margaret Atwood:

“Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language, and the last and it always tells the truth. So, the upshot? Get a dog, ditch your phone and go out on a limb”… 😊

Love, joy and plants..

GloW xx