besides the physical, touch confers the emotional. touch confers a sense of intimacy. whether a touch of wamth and love from a loved one, or the cold mocking of an enemy.
touch also confers knowledge. it helps us get a "feel" for danger. hot. sharp. rough. things that skin cannot bear lest it be blistered, sliced, abraded. when you study medicine. you feel for masses, lumps, swollen lymph nodes etc.
so as you can see. touch is really critical in my life. but sometimes i wonder, am i losing my sense of touch?
not literally, if you please. after examining so many patients, i wonder if a simple touch means merely that, a simple touch. before it might have confered comfort, love, safety. but sometimes i do wonder if touch is losing it's importance in life, merely cos i do it a lot more nowadays, and to strangers no less! (minds OUT of the gutter, if you please.)
or has touch merely shifted it's importance in my life? is it now more important in the logical side rather than the emotional side of me?
as medics we are called to be bold with our touches.
1. it shows you know what the hell you are doing.
2. it's really necessary if you want to get any findings at all out of your clinical examination. (case in point: abdominal exam. if you don't touch the patient's belly, what the hell else are you going to do with it?!)
i ceratinly hope i'm not losing my "touch" on the personal front either. emotions are intangible enough to confuse and wind up most people, i really think that without touch we might all go stark raving mad with:
a) all that repressed emotion
b) a lack of medans to express ourselves
c) not knowing how others feel (also the reason why the internet isn't the best place to talk things out if people need to).
it's a physical representation of our inner self. one that we must cherish in this day of internet and globe-trotting. God gave us 5 senses. we should have the good grace to use, and above all, cherish what He has given us.
and i certainly hope i haven't forgotten how to use it yet.
Inscribed @ 9:59 pm
-raison d'être-
Crimson Bisque
Seconded by her friends
Hooked after a few blogs
Doomed to express herself
every now and then
Crimson: red
Bisque: White unglazed porcelein
Crimson bisque:
A little rough around the edges,
rather fragile and stained red by the
change Jesus death and his blood
has brought about in my life
