I love how you stimulate my mind and heart. I, too, would love more hugs, on the one hand. However, I want the hug to be very personal. The issue with Hugtrucks is that they, perforce, would be impersonal. A hug by a stranger is not welcome. Even for dogs, they seem to love cuddling with their favorite non-dog; sometimes they make choices within their non-dog family.
Doesn't it depend on their breed, background, background re how they were treated by the
non-dog family? Same with us non-dogs. Our background, how we have been treated, what we are told about our ethnicity, and so on informs our behavior with others. Those children adopted from countries in which they were fed via a large spatula and never hugged and touched, take a while to tolerate touch by the adoptive family. Right. We are kind of doglike in some ways, huh?
I see your points. I think it necessary to at least begin to talk about the problem. I really don’t know if I have any answers but some kind of answer is needed. I sometimes write a little tongue in cheek. I think we are more doglike than we admit. Though some might not welcome a strangers hug, some do. There are already services that do this very thing. You are right about some children not knowing what affection means. This is like neglect I think. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it:
First, yes, there's something special about animals because they aren't burdened by social norms, etc. Their training can cause harm if its done wrong though, so I guess that's similar to people being under external influences.
I laugh any time somebody calls dogs or horses dumb. Yes, they can't speak, that's true. Why people like to acknowledge that all the time I can't understand haha.
I'd have to say that humans can are very communicative non-verbally, like dogs or horses. The problems is that most people don't care about, understand, or pay attention to, the other people they interact with. If you find somebody who does care, understand, and pays attention, he'll know if you want a hug, need some space, are cold, hot, or any of the other things you mentioned. Sadly, those people aren't very common.
As for physical interaction, yes, its essential. I think a big part of that is being vulnerable and not being able to hide all of our non-verbal cues from the person/people we are with. That changes the dynamics significantly.
Thanks so much for your comments. Now you’ve given me stuff to think about. I believe in this story more than most others. I like to write with sly humor, yet what I said is true. I agree with you for the most part. Whenever I’ve thought about loneliness, in my life or in general, I think it’s a shame that so many people are crying out for human embrace yet we are shamed or scared or something. There has got to be a better way than our thousands of years experiences playing pretend like everyone is strong. I am not a Stoic. I don’t believe people are nearly as strong as our outward presentation. We have one shot at life. We should get more real, and happy, and dispense with the nonsense.
when they are joyful, they run around in circles. We should try that sometime, as well.⬅️ I walk like a director in an orchestra swaying my hands in the air along the song I listened to! Guess I'm kinda "dog" mind too! Lol 🤣
I love how you stimulate my mind and heart. I, too, would love more hugs, on the one hand. However, I want the hug to be very personal. The issue with Hugtrucks is that they, perforce, would be impersonal. A hug by a stranger is not welcome. Even for dogs, they seem to love cuddling with their favorite non-dog; sometimes they make choices within their non-dog family.
Doesn't it depend on their breed, background, background re how they were treated by the
non-dog family? Same with us non-dogs. Our background, how we have been treated, what we are told about our ethnicity, and so on informs our behavior with others. Those children adopted from countries in which they were fed via a large spatula and never hugged and touched, take a while to tolerate touch by the adoptive family. Right. We are kind of doglike in some ways, huh?
Hi Benn,
I see your points. I think it necessary to at least begin to talk about the problem. I really don’t know if I have any answers but some kind of answer is needed. I sometimes write a little tongue in cheek. I think we are more doglike than we admit. Though some might not welcome a strangers hug, some do. There are already services that do this very thing. You are right about some children not knowing what affection means. This is like neglect I think. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it:
You've given me a lot to unpack. I enjoyed that.
First, yes, there's something special about animals because they aren't burdened by social norms, etc. Their training can cause harm if its done wrong though, so I guess that's similar to people being under external influences.
I laugh any time somebody calls dogs or horses dumb. Yes, they can't speak, that's true. Why people like to acknowledge that all the time I can't understand haha.
I'd have to say that humans can are very communicative non-verbally, like dogs or horses. The problems is that most people don't care about, understand, or pay attention to, the other people they interact with. If you find somebody who does care, understand, and pays attention, he'll know if you want a hug, need some space, are cold, hot, or any of the other things you mentioned. Sadly, those people aren't very common.
As for physical interaction, yes, its essential. I think a big part of that is being vulnerable and not being able to hide all of our non-verbal cues from the person/people we are with. That changes the dynamics significantly.
Thanks so much for your comments. Now you’ve given me stuff to think about. I believe in this story more than most others. I like to write with sly humor, yet what I said is true. I agree with you for the most part. Whenever I’ve thought about loneliness, in my life or in general, I think it’s a shame that so many people are crying out for human embrace yet we are shamed or scared or something. There has got to be a better way than our thousands of years experiences playing pretend like everyone is strong. I am not a Stoic. I don’t believe people are nearly as strong as our outward presentation. We have one shot at life. We should get more real, and happy, and dispense with the nonsense.
when they are joyful, they run around in circles. We should try that sometime, as well.⬅️ I walk like a director in an orchestra swaying my hands in the air along the song I listened to! Guess I'm kinda "dog" mind too! Lol 🤣
Thanks for sharing. I think the most doglike thing to do is exactly what you want with zero shame. So orchestrate whenever you feel like it.
Yup dogs are smarter than us. I loved reading this ❤️
Thanks for reading and sharing this.
What a sweet way to get out of the stress cycle…think like a dog. 🩵