Hurt and Harm

I imagine a day without one thing I value: food, water, shelter, a single sense, the loss of memory, words, human contact, hope, dignity, purpose, pleasure, love. The scarcity of any one of these causes me unease, their absence harms.

When I believe these things are at risk or desire more, I hurt, either within, or others.

Eclipse

I watched a total eclipse of the sun on a sandy beech on the south western edge of England. The clouds parted a minute before totality, and I, together with family and strangers, experienced the spontaneous, shared emotion and immeasurable wonder of an all enveloping celestial event. Those on the highest cliff in Cornwall could still only see under half the distance to the edge of totality.

For a short time, the unconstrained awe and rapture of something bigger dispels our petty differences.

To Touch and be Touched

Touch is my fundamental sense. I feel through touch. Much of my sense of body is through touch. Touch was how I first explored the world. Touch allows me to experience everything between pleasure and pain, and provides a way for me to express my inner world and love.

Touch requires trust. If I sense touch is self-centred I withdraw and the same is true for another.

Touch is vital for my well-being, yet fraught with interpretation. With nature I touch without restraint.