I originally found Cuddle Comfort when I was researching some stuff online for massage therapy and was immediately intrigued by the idea of platonic cuddling. I'm pretty strongly touch-oriented and in a touch business (CMT) but I'm the one always giving and never receiving, so I was immediately hooked. Got to admit that my first thought was to replace some of my massage therapy hours with cuddling as a professional, but so far I've been enjoying being an enthusiast.
I've learned a lot since I've been here, especially after meeting two women on here. (Hope to see one of them again soon; can't wait!) For example, I learned that cuddling is way more intimate than therapeutic massage, which hadn't occurred to me, and thus requires a different mindset. The idea of asking permission before touching or doing various things at each stage is very similar to MT protocols though, as is the idea of "holding space or energy."
This first story was funny to me because of a recent thread about cuddling on airplanes. That discussion came into my mind at the time, and despite the potential for awkwardness, I decided to be open to possibilities and see what would happen.
I was on a flight going to southern California for a wrestling trip this past weekend, when I was seated next to an old woman who struck up a conversation with me about her dead husband, and her life. It became pretty clear very quickly that she was starved for attention. So we talked and she happened to put her hand on the armrest where my hand was. Before CC I would have moved my hand and let her keep talking, but I thought, "What the hell?" and left it there. She looked a little startled, went to move her hand, but I smiled and held her gaze, and she put her hand back over mine and continued talking. To make a long story shorter, I ended up giving her a little hand massage and held her hand for about 40 minutes, and then gave her a big hug and we went our separate ways.
And on the flight back, I was seated next to this guy who looked like he was about my age. Honestly, if I were attracted to men he would have been the kind of guy I would have fancied--tall, fit-looking, and kind of clean cut. We got to talking and when he asked me why I was flying I told him about my wrestling career and he told me about playing minor league baseball and how he has stayed in shape by playing in semi-competitive recreational leagues ever since, though he was on a boring business trip for some tech thing.
So, he was leaning toward me and as we got to talking he ended up leaning up against me a little. Again, before CC, I would have either pulled away or said nothing. Instead I leaned toward him and put my hand near his on the armrest. Then I told him about CC and how I was into that and he looked it up on his phone since we were out of mandatory airplane mode. He said he thought it was an "interesting idea" and again, to make a long story shorter, by the end of the flight I was chilling kind of turning sideways in my seat a little kind of in the crook of his arm, which I found very nice. (The stewardess thought we made a "cute couple" lol.) He gave me his business card and said he gets up to San Jose a lot and would like to meet again, maybe take me (and my partner) out to dinner, and that he's going to read more about platonic cuddling. I told him I'd love that and I hope it works out.
Have a lovely weekend all.
Kate