Reclaiming Touch Thanks to an Owl and Words

The softness of flannel sheets this morning reminded me of the down of an owl I held at the side of  the road recently.  The soft fur, I was surprised to find close to its body, acts as insulation ensuring warmth. I didn't know it at the time but something about the owl's down awoke my sense of touch.   

Later that day when I reached to stroke Bogey my cat's fur I knew this in my fingertips and then again when I drove along gently pulling my hair.  My sensory self was awake as I had not been prior to the owl.

The feel of flannel this morning awoke that sense again. 

Of the millions of tiny nerve endings just below the skins surface, we've 2500 nerve receptors per square centimeter in the hand or @ 1,000 per square inch if I'm doing correct math.  The point is this is a LOT of nerve endings gifting us with touch, our tactile sense.

How is it the word tactile refers to touch yet it's kin in appearance with tactic and tactician words connected to the military, war and strategy?  How is it our instrument of touch, the hand, is also connected to killing and war?

Touch wipes tears away.
Touch pulls the trigger of the gun as well as the bomb dropped by a remote plane.
The touch of a held hand conveys "You're not alone. I'm here."
The touch of an angry hand conveys control, instills fear.

How is it a multitude of modern hands today may be more aware of the touch of metal and plastic on keyboards and touch screens than skin? What are the potential long term consequences of typing and texing unaware of touch?

Touch holds the capacity for such healing and harm.

Likewise the word 'down' has so many associations other than the soft feathers I felt. How often today do we hear the stock market's down or the economy's taken a down turn?  There's 'down' as in unhappy and down as in the opposite of heaven, the hell I grew up fearing as a child, and last but not least 'down there' code for penis and vagina.

And now as Fall concludes much of Nature goes down for awhile, entering the mystery of dark Earth, for rest, rejuvenation and eventual rebirth.

I am grateful for this Mystery coded in nature, words and the birds, especially the owl, waking me to the sense of touch in my fingertips and the power of words. It's down brings me home to who I am.

(And although I'm not a huge football fan the words: Touch Down will never be the same.)

Imagine the Shift of waking up to how you use your hands and the sense of touch, of living life aware of the power in and at your fingertips.

-Dawn! The Good News Muse, 29 November 2011

dawn@imaginetheshift.com

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