Today I thought it would be nice to talk about ‘touch’ as a magnificent kindness.

The opening scene in the film ‘Love, Actually’ is my favorite of any film ever. It takes place at the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport and shows friends, lovers, and family members meeting one another after various absences using real live footage of reunions. There is a lot of hugging in slow motion and smiles abounding with all that shining emotion and before you know it I am sobbing from the sheer heartfullness of it all. Every. Single. Time.

This deceptively simple scene makes me feel as if I have been invited to cross a sacred threshold to witness a deeply intimate and precious connection mysteriously transcending the physical presence of everyone gathered at that gate.

When I watch this scene, I feel as if I can see the very souls of those loved one’s reaching out for one another in that airport and it gives me goosebumps.

This morning as I write this post for Kind over Matter up in my studio I am turning over the idea of ‘touch’ as one of the most beautiful and deeply transformative kindnesses.

‘At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.’ ~ Plato ~

The language of a loving touch more than any word can dissolve all emotional distance. There is tremendous presence in a heartfelt hug, a gentle caress, a tender squeeze to the hand that transmits care, warmth, belonging in the most divine way.

A loving touch is delightfully immediate, present, and powerfully engaging and communicates magnificent depth of love when words fail. Wrapping your arms around a friend you magically become entwined, a part of one another. What an immense offering! Such a stunning exchange of soul! It’s like a miracle really, the ultimate lightness of being.

I truly feel as if our world is longing for more touch. Starving really. We ache to be closer with one another, to be held, to be nourished in our relationships and the faster our world spins with all our busy busyness, the less time we seem to have to warmly ‘reach out and touch someone.’ After all we are physical beings here on this earth, and our ability to share ourselves with each other through touch is a gift.

I think you will love this. On youtube there are a series of darling free hugs videos I completely adore which show people standing in public places with a ‘free hugs’ sign. Whenever I feel the need for a potent love cocktail I click on one of these videos and once again I find myself filling up, spilling over.

Here is something that occurred to me while watching these videos recently. I’m just so excited I can barely stand it.

Hugging someone is so easy, it sort of takes your breath away.

In the next few days I am going to be thinking about touch in particular. I am going to work on my repertoire of hugs! and let my hands do a little more talking because a loving touch always was, and always will be, just enough.

Madelyn Mulvaney is a writer, photographer, poet and the creator of the ‘Persisting Stars’ online photography courses. She is passionate about morning coffee, polaroids, swing dancing, poetry, the sea, vinyl records, Indian food and loooong roadtrips.Her photography is represented by Getty images and can be seen in publications and book covers around the world. She lives in a little house by the sea with her beautiful teenagers, Tess and Noah and a labradoodle named Roxy.