Pucker up butter-cup

"I don't have to KISS her, do I?

Is that what Valentines do??!

Oh, gross!"

-- Bill Watterson, The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes

Self portrait 8-14-13

“A kiss may ruin a human life.”

-- Oscar Wilde

Self portrait (2) 8-14-13

"Although it is rare, the fear of touch can have devastating consequences for those who suffer from it. If you are struggling with a fear of touch, kissing may feel like a violation instead of a pleasurable experience.

In some cases, the fear of kissing stems from a deeper concern over intimacy or vulnerability. Some people are actually more comfortable with having sex, which they view as impersonal, than with kissing, which they see as intimate. These issues are complex, and are best faced with the help of a competent, understanding therapist."

-- Lisa  Fritscher, 

"Philemaphobia: Understanding the 

Fear of Kissing"

A touchy subject

"Only a girl like this
can know what's happened to you.
If she were here she would
reach out her arms towards
you now, and touch you
with her absent hands
and you would feel nothing, but you would be
touched all the same.”

-- Margaret Atwood, "Girl Without Hands"

Self portrait 6-11-13

  

“I know it’s hard for you to allow yourself to feel this. 

You've gone so long training yourself to block the feelings and emotions out 

any time someone touches you.” 

-- Colleen Hoover, Hopeless

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us,

we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures,

have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds 

with a warm and tender hand."

-- Henri Nouwen