Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh!" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw.
"I just wanted to be sure of you."
A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

"Lovers leave and friends will let you down/
You're the only sure thing that I've found/
No matter what I do I'll never lose/
My old friend the blues"
-The Proclaimers, My Old Friend The Blues

As my parents will testify, I have always needed signs of reassurance. A hug here, a random "I love you" there, always that affirmation of presence. It's not that I necessarily doubt other's love, but that it is extremely comforting to emphasize it. That's one of the reasons these quotes really strike chords within me. In one, the message is sent that all you have to do is call and reach out your hand, and it will be taken and held. The other says that the hand will slip, and you will be left to fend for yourself, alone. I have certainly had experiences that have gone both ways, sometimes grasping the hand firmly, and sometimes losing my grip. It's always painful when the connection is lost, and that can lead one to believe it's better not to try at all, to resign onesself to isolation so as not to fall down further. But the joy-- and that's what it is, joy in its deepest, original pure sense-- of someone grabbing ahold and helping you up is so powerful, so touching, that it simply cannot be neglected for monotony. From a Christian outlook, we are actively called to reach out and take hold of another's hands, and are told ahead of time of the benefits, of the connection between "love thy neighbor as thyself" and "God is love, and where true love is, God himself is there." How, then, can I settle for anything less, without denying not only God, but all the other people reaching out to me? It's one thing to shut myself off and stagnate on my own, but in doing so, I would cut off and hurt my friends and family who are relying on me to pull them up? I can't, and so I keep marching, "further up and further in" as the story goes, continually reaching out for that sometimes elusive brush of skin that says, "Here I am."

Tunes: "Leave", R.E.M. (iTMS); "Solsbury Hill", Peter Gabriel (iTMS); "Sky", Sonique (iTMS).