|
Page 3 of 3
Imagine snuggling up against one cuddle buddy, while another is rubbing your feet, while another is lying across your lap and you are stroking their hair. It was nirvana for this avowed cuddle monster.
 A few people had been there multiple times. One man was visiting for the seventh time, and another for a third. Both acknowledged a lack of loving touch in their daily lives.
Since skin is our single largest organ, it only makes sense that it receive as much healthy contact as possible. Ask yourself how often you are touched in any given day, in a nourishing, non-sexual way. For those of us in a parenting or care giving role, we may be offering more touch than we receive. For those who live alone, we sometimes lack consistently healthy touch. Most in our culture are touch-starved. Cuddle Party seems to fill a gaping hole in our psyche.
Sensual, Not Sexual
For women, this is a safe place to practice socializing with men who are not judging them on appearance. The people who attend get to find each other interesting as human beings, rather than as object.
The people who attend get to find each other interesting as human beings, rather than as object. 
Marcia shared a favorite example of that: “This woman came who was really, really sexy. She was a party promoter and wore her skimpy little tank top. This was way back in the beginning when we still allowed alcohol. Most people didn’t drink, so we got rid of it. She had three or four Mimosas. Her armor was all up. Her sexiness was her armor. She was used to succeeding in the world because of that. She kept trying to sexualize the situation by making sexual comments. The group didn’t get mad at her. They just wouldn’t let her. She finally gave up and sat on the bed and this guy sat down next to her. They got into a conversation about South American politics, about which she was incredibly knowledgeable. By the end of the party, she realized that people were actually interested in her for her brain.”
Barriers between people collapse
No one is able to tell an executive from a blue collar worker while clad in flannel or cotton, Marcia and REiD noted. “Pajamas get to be this great equalizer.” said REiD. “It’s this whole New Yorker thing... ‘so what do you do for a living?’ Nobody asks that at Cuddle Party. It’s more like ‘Why did you come here?’”
The pair offer different parties for different groups. I was most impressed by workshops for older people, since that part of the population may be more touch-starved than any other group.
I was most impressed by workshops for older people, since that part of the population may be more touch-starved than any other group.
They have had people as old as 83 attend Cuddle Party. The age range at the party I attended was impressive. REiD pointed out: “You get a 19 year old Gay boy, cuddling with a 48 year old Hasidic Jew. It’s because they ‘get’ each other as people.” It seems that Cuddle Party transcends barriers of all kinds, and when people emerge back into their daily lives, the transformation is remarkable. Imagine a world in which cuddling was the norm and pajama clad politicians and Fortune 500 CEO’s met as people, rather than as ‘suits’.
For more info, check out their website, www.cuddleparty.com . |
