Hugs

So, while I look at the currently seemingly broken ``new post'' page of Blogger and typing out this line, I wonder: have I really hit rock bottom this time? If I have truly hit rock bottom, then this is probably the first time ever that I am so utterly defeated in something that I had done.

I am sort of past the stage where I can actually justify/rationalise/explain away why I am behaving the way I am. At this point, what I need the most is probably not some one to talk to, but just someone to hold on to for a little while just to feel that special human touch that words don't seem to be able to put together well.

Unfortunately, finding someone who is willing to give me a hug is neigh impossible where I am now, all because of stupid societal ``conventions''.

I am a big fan of hugs---I don't believe that there is anything more comforting than a hug when someone is down. It doesn't matter what gender the person giving the hug is---as long as it is a hug, it is something wonderful and magical that always help the person being hugged, reminding him/her that things are probably not so bad. In many senses, a hug is representative of the lowering of the guard, the literal welcoming of someone into one's arms to show that one is a friend, and the most direct way of demonstrating support and care for someone.

Yet, stupid societal ``conventions'' deny the expression of such a basic human emotion in my current location.

Contrary to popular belief, hugs need not convey any form of sexual interest at all. More generally, there are at least two types of hugs, namely the full-contact hug which includes having most of the two participants' bellies touching, and the half-contact hug, where it is only the upper torso of the participants are in contact. Obviously, full-contact hugs are reserved for very intimate encounters, and this is the hug that everyone seems to be thinking of when the unqualified term is used. Yet that is not the most useful hug by a large degree---the half-contact one is infinitely more useful. It is friendly yet unsexual---there is closeness yet intimacy is not hinted upon. In short, it is a nice way of showing that one cares for another person (probably a friend) without planting the ``wrong ideas'' in the other person's head.

Of course being the cynic I am, I tend to criticise society for denying me and many others of the chance to have a nice hug to calm oneself down. But there is most certainly another way to look at it---I am too weak to be able to stand against emotional blows without resorting to support through hugs. This is also obviously the defeatist perspective that dominates my soul at the moment, something that I cannot easily shake away like that.

So, in view of what I have said here, if you are a friend of mine who happen to see me walking around, please don't hesitate to just walk up to me and give me a hug, and help me remind my rational self that the world is still revolving, and the end is not here yet, and there is much to be done, and that moping around is not going to help. A hug is all it takes---you don't need to go searching for the right words to say---I will understand perfectly when you give me that hug.

Until next time.