I Miss Being In Touch

Over the past several weeks, with the convergence of bitter temperatures, intense winter storms and battling my own sinus/chest congestion, I have spent most of my time indoors. That meant sipping hot tea, binging Stranger Things and pulling out my parents' old lavender colored Mahjong set to play a childhood game I'd play hundreds of times before.

As a kid, I'd affectionately called this game, "Turtle" because the set-up involved arranging the Mahjong tiles, which are shaped like bricks, in the form of a turtle. After shuffling the tiles with a crazed version of Mr. Miyagi's "sand the floor" technique in The Karate Kid, I'd methodically stack them to build the shell and then finish it off with a head, legs and tail. The object of the game is to clear the tiles from the board by matching them in pairs. Such elegance in its simplicity and playing brought me a calm, joy.

I made a mental note that I should download an app so I could take the game to go.

Interspersed between Turtle games was Stranger Things, where I followed a group of teens on a quest to solve the mysteries that unfolded in their hometown of Hawkins, Indiana. As I watched their adventures, I began to go down my own road of memories. For those of you who haven't seen the show, it's set in the 1980's and it didn't hold back on the infamous 80's fashion, hair and music. With its intriguing story line, Stranger Things captured my interest, but with its world-building, it recreated my childhood not only on the TV screen, but within my body.

The show recovered visceral memories of me sticking my finger into the numbered holes of a rotary phone, twirling the dial to call a friend. Leafing through the thinner-than-paper-thin pages of a humongous phone book, to search for a restaurant's address. Turning the key in the ignition while stepping on the gas pedal, to start the car. Spinning the radio knob to tune into a station or pressing the clunky buttons on a cassette player, to listen to my favorite song.

It was then when I realized that playing Turtle or watching a show set in the 1980's wasn't just making me nostalgic for the past, I was nostalgic for physical interactions.

Our current world runs on electrical impulses through mother boards, wires and cables. Technology has replaced the gears, springs and levers in the gadgets of our everyday lives. Now when I make a phone call, play music or even operate my washing machine, I touch a cold, flat panel which signals a computer to perform the desired task. In other words, I'm not directly performing said action. I'm merely informing a computer to do it on my behalf.

Technology has become the intermediary agents of our bidding. As technology has become more infused into our society, it has slowly stripped us of the physicality we once had. We are not as physically connected to our own lives as we once were, and it makes me a bit sad to be literally losing touch.

But all is not lost!

Innately, we are tactile creatures. Infants and toddlers, put their tiny hands on EVERYTHING. Touch is one of the methods in which we gather information from our surroundings. But on an emotional level, I believe it also brings us pleasure and recharges our internal battery. 

We can deliberately incorporate activities without technology back into our lives. What that looks like depends on the individual. It could mean creating traditional art using pencils, clay, paint and brushes. Or maybe, combing your hands and fingers through the soil as you plant seeds in a garden. And of course, there's stretching where you connect with your own body as you reach for your toes, pull yourself closer to your knees and breathe.

For me, I've decided to not download an app to play Turtle but instead, reserve it for my Mahjong set where I can enjoy the weight and texture of the engraved tiles in my hands.

Do you have anything specific that you miss from your childhood or the past? If so, I'd love to hear from you! Please share in the comments below.👇