Genuine Human Connection

The mutual yearning and receptivity for an embrace of one human truly connecting with another human through the act of hugging is one of the most intimate moments two people can share.  We seek it, whether for connection on a physical level or connection on an emotional level and yet often it cannot be found or it is not safe or consensual.  We yearn for it and are afraid of it.  This fear creates walls of shame preventing us from the touch we need to survive and thrive.  Where does this shame come from?  I explore that question in this episode.

Credit and Sources
Lemn Sissay, When All You Need is a Hug: personal experiences of the UK care system, TEDxLiverpool, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B88dCHJ9Rvg

Miroslav Volf, Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School

Charlie McDonald, Fun Science channel, YouTube

Janet Treviño, Touch Therapist, TEDxSanAntonio, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7m_qOn6QqM

Jane Anderson, Massage Therapist, TEDxUofM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tafP2OgttCI&t=507s

Tiffany Field Ph.D., “Preschoolers in America are Touched Less and are More Aggressive Than Preschoolers in France,” Early Child Development and Care Volume 151, 1999 - Issue 1

Elizabeth Day, On the trail of the Free Hugs founder, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/02/free-hug-movement-founder

Dr. Rhoda Lipscomb, https://drrhoda.com

Music
Kevin MacLeod

A common thread in obtaining genuine, human connection is that we are our own obstacle.  If the problem to obtaining genuine, human connection lays within us, does its solution also lay within us?  I use the lens of spirituality to investigate this question because at the heart of every religious path we find the tenant of Brotherhood of Man, or the idea that we are all one human community.

Sources

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ebenezer Baptist Church, April 30, 1967
• Dharma Speaks YouTube Channel, Bhagavad Gita made easy - Part 1/3
• Rabbi Chaim Marder
• Anthony Salciccioli, teacher of philosophy, Clarenceville High School Livonia, Michigan
• Education and Curricular Perspectives in the Qur'an, Textbook by Sarah Risha

Music By

• Freedom Trail Studio
• Aakash Gandhi
• Brotherhood of Man
• John Lennon
• Bob Marley

In this episode, I will explore Genuine Human Connection on a psychological level.  It is this aspect that business tries to capitalize on, convincing our minds that the connection we hunger for is being fed through their marketing practices.  In order for them to achieve this, they have to have a strong grasp on what our minds associate with Genuine Human Connection.

Sources
Bailey Parnell TEDxRyerson Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg_9C7gw0o&t=707s

Philosophy Vibe
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClepFnDpTP3pLKxVsbLNhDA

Chibundu Onuzo
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/09/facebook-social-media-intimacy-human-contact-craving

Dan Foxx TEDxChelmsford Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23vBLxJQk-Y

Music by
Nate Blaze
United States Marine Band
ELPHNT
Godmode
Chibundu Onuzo

Listen to what anthropologist, Ashely Montagu, writes about developing connection through the skin.  In this episode I glance at socialization through infant development, contact greetings, isolation and contact deprivation, as well as the practice of grooming -- through the lens of Montagu’s 1980 book Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin.

Music Credits
Almost in F - Tranquillity by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100394
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Sonatina No 2 in F Major by Joel Cummins

Promises of finding genuine, human connection abound in society.  We talk about soul-mates and finding authentic friendships.  Hundreds of books are written about connecting with your kids, connecting with your employees, and fostering healthy relationships.  

Why do we (as the social creatures we are) find it so difficult to achieve the thing we desire so badly?  Shouldn’t we evolutionarily be designed better than this?  When asking myself this question, I considered that perhaps we don’t know what we are looking for.  What is genuine, human connection?

I attempt to address all of these questions in my podcast.

If you are likewise curiously motivated by the same questions I am, then journey with me as we seek to discover the mystery behind Genuine Human Connection.  

Join the discussion here www.facebook.com/groups/thegenuinehumanconnectionpodcast/

Land on the Golden Gate by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/stuntisland/

Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/