SEA OTTERS, HUMANS, AND HOLDING HANDS

A few weeks ago I posted a blog bit titled ANCHORS. I talked about being adrift and wondering what you, my readers held as your anchor. Well so far after the fact, that probably nobody but me saw it ‘luckymama13’ commented:

     ‘Did you know that sea otters hold hands while they sleep so as not to drift apart?

      Anchors can and are in many forms.

      I love you.’

Today, I reply to luckymama13 ~ Thank you for that information. I love you too, honey. (For those of you who don’t know, lunckmama13 is my daughter.)

All that aside, I decided to do some research on Sea Otters. I found that it’s true; they do hold hands when they sleep. Now I don’t suppose a sea otter has ever explained exactly why they are holding hands to a research scientist (file this under things like – all dogs are color blind – how do they know that?), but they do sleep in ‘rafts’, large groups of up to 100 otters floating on the sea often holding hands. Sometimes they even wrap themselves in kelp. The most logical explanation for either of these actions is to anchor themselves to the group.

Quite a few of my readers replied to my question about what is their anchor, but stating it is their family. It makes me wonder why, as a whole, people are not concerned about standing together.

In this modern world we face a lot of tough issues. Of course, we don’t all agree how to handle all of these issues, but if we could at least stand together and try to find a viable solution, instead of insisting ours is the only way, don’t you think we would have a better chance. If we could open our hearts and minds to truly looking for solutions rather than resorting to ambiguous attacks on the opposing viewpoints, wouldn’t we at least be starting a dialogue that just might lead to some productivity? If we kept our emotions in check and looked at things logically, systematically ruling out the impossible and impractical and forging communication based on facts, shouldn't we have a more sturdy platform on which to agree.

As a woman, I’m all about ‘holding hands’. We hold the hands of our children to protect them keep them close and help them to feel loved and safe. We hold hands to show affection to others and provide a real physical connection. We hold hands to share grief, show sympathy, empathy and solidarity. And finally maybe we should hold hands so as not to drift away from the most basic needs, wants and desires of the human race – an opportunity to feel love.

In preparing this post, I started to think; what would it be like if during the most contested debate the two parties were required to face each other and hold hands while expressing their views. Do you suppose it would make a difference? Would they act more civil to the party they oppose? Would they take more care and time to explain their position? Would they take more time and care to truly listen to their opponent? Or would it become a ‘hand squeezing’ contest to see who could inflict more pain?

Just a thought.