Hi, my name is Erika and I am a toucher.

I know, I know—online you can find quite different meanings of the word toucher (and some of them are rather sexual), but let me explain my definition of a person who is a toucher.

Here is my list:

1. A toucher is someone who perceives the world through touch. Of course, this person also has the ability to see, smell, and hear, but touches give out the most information. My palms are like satellites, carefully studying surroundings—from the leaves on trees to the gray walls of buildings.

2. I categorize people based on their warmth. To do that I don’t even have to touch them—it is felt in the air surrounding them.

3. I love painting, but when I do, I struggle with using only the brushes. After 10 minutes of this struggle, I dive into the painting with both of my hands—I touch the canvas, mix some paint with my fingers, and end up all dirty and splashed with paint.

4. I love touching my cat. Not sure if she likes it back.

5. I am also in “other people’s space” too often. No, it is not a sexual thing, but sometimes I use my touch as a part of communication. If someone is sad, I pat them on the back and if someone is teasing me, I give them a fist…a friendly one (jk).

Now I am on my eighth day of quarantine. A few days ago, I found a post about coronavirus, which said: now all the young people will get to know what life was like in the Soviet Union in the 90s—nowhere to go and nothing to do. And the toucher inside me got scared.

Nowhere to go and nothing to do also means nothing to touch, because let‘s face it, in these times, it is dangerous! That means no touching or hugging my friends and even no touching those oranges on the store shelves…when I get out of my quarantine.

Life could really change after the virus withdraws as well. People will learn to protect their space. Now I am sitting all alone and thinking: I hope that no one will forget the importance of a touch and what information it can bring to our minds.

So what is my tip for those like me?

I guess it’s to “have faith.”

Have faith that this mess will turn out into passionate kisses when we finally get to meet our loved ones. And have faith that our take away from this situation will be more appreciation of human contact and being able to touch each other. So, after COVID-19, let’s all be touchers!

~

Relephant Read: Don’t panic! Check out Waylon’s mindful Coronavirus advice.