Losing Touch

I am losing touch with my feet. Either my arms are getting shorter or my legs are getting longer. Putting tights on is a real struggle - imagine a turtle on it's back on a bed! Even tight trousers are proving a challenge now.

I am losing touch with my brain. Everything I need to know is in there. I just don't seem to be able to recall it at the opportune moment. Then it pops out when I don't need it anymore.

I have lost touch with friends over the years. Probably for very good reasons, we have physically moved away from eachother, or lost whatever experiential connection or mutual interest we had. Or even had some sort of clash, when things were said which we thought could not be forgiven or unsaid. You learn, as you age, that retaining friendships or relationships requires effort & some degree of forbearance of slights & foibles.

As I look around at people today I think that the human race is in danger of losing touch completely. I know that sounds like a contradiction in terms in this "connected" world. But that's the point. It's a connection at a distance. Skype, Texting, Emails.....That isn't the same as being with someone, seeing their face, talking to them, touching them, (both metaphorically & in reality).

In this "time poor" world we need to make the effort to do more than send the odd text, email or voicemail. All of these can be misunderstood. Once the send button is pressed it's too late. The harm is done. It is very easy to respond emotionally & irrationally to a situation. Saying what you think in the heat of the moment isn't always a good idea. There are many shades of right & wrong.

It is very easy, but cowardly, to end a relationship or fire someone by text or email. If you haven't got the courage to see the impact of what you have done, you are in danger of being like a modern soldier pressing the button for the drone to fire the missile & ignoring the possible "collateral damage".

Humans need to be "in touch" both with themselves & other people. We need to socialise. We need to try out our ideas on others. We need to amend our opinions in the light of the opinions of others who may just know more than we do. Humans aren't meant to live in isolation or communicate at a distance unless there is no other choice.

Look at people around you. People you know & people you don't. Are they losing touch? Sadly - I think we may be in real danger of doing just that. "Keep in touch" is taking on a whole new meaning.