Moving

In class last week we talked about the relationship people have with touch based on location. This conversation was really interesting for me, because I come from California, where skin on skin contact is not as hard to come by. In class we discussed how people in colder weather don't touch as much as people in warming places. I experienced this first hand when I moved from California to Washington. I run a low temperature and so even when other people are in a tank top, I need a jacket. So, I ended up with almost no skin on skin contact for about a year and a half. This progressed for me to having a weird relationship with touch. I have never been one to initiate touching, but I know I like it once I trust the other person. The only touch I really got was from my friends back in California. I trust them very deeply, and cuddling with them seems normal. We have often slept in the same bed, or on trains, or cuddled for heat. Until recently, in Washington, I felt very isolated. While we were having that conversation in class I realized that that isolation was probably due to lack of skin on skin touch. I spent my first summer in Bellingham last summer, and therefore ended up with more skin on skin contact with people, which was really nice. Since the start of the warm weather I have noticed that I have been getting more skin on skin contact with my friends, and that has made this spring the best in Washington thus far.