Touch and Human Interaction

 Reading The Deepest Sense: A Cultural History of Touch by Constance Classen out into perspective how abnormal the conditions of the pandemic have made our social interactions. Classen's writing depicts the history of human interaction and everyday life as extremally intimate and interpersonal. Eating, living, and bathing were all communal activities in medieval times, and meals were served in shared bowls and hands were used instead of utensils. Post-COVID pandemic these things are inconceivable to us, this past few years being even in the presence of someone else has been considered potentially dangerous and I feel like it has warped my feelings about personal space and human interaction. I didn't grow up this way, my family was not big on personal space and my mom always communicated affection through physical touch. I would always wrestle or play rough with my cousins and siblings and it was not strange for me to hug a person I had maybe never met or had just met. I know that it has not been socially acceptable to bathe with random strangers or even family members past a certain age but eating together or with strangers has become an uncomfortable thing at least. Which I hope is a trend that fades out eventually because I do enjoy communicating and interacting with people physically and through practices like communal eating and just being in the presence of other people.