The concept of Cuddle therapy or renting a significant other, is a more recent phenomenon that has been very popular in countries like Japan and America. In an article by Authority Magazine, Rebekka Mikkola, CEO of Nordic Cuddle explains, “In western countries like the UK and the US, we are living through a touch deprivation crisis and a stigma has arisen around touch.” The need for people to have reassurance and a sense of safety is so important, so much so that people will actually pay a professional for the experience we all naturally crave.

I believe that this new craze highlights how alone & alienated people are feeling in their daily lives and it has become increasingly difficult to meet people who are like-minded. I’ve been researching how normalizing intimate touch with others can strengthen the sense of connection with one another. Touch doesn’t always need to be sexual. Oxytocin that is released from taking part in non-sexual intimacy like hugging has shown to create a deeper bond and sense of trust within individuals. I feel that many individuals idea of what is appropriate touch has been warped due to a sex oriented society. Communicating our needs and finding a safe space to learn what we feel comfortable with is very important.

My aim with this short book is to bring awareness to different ways touch affects us and how the language can be lost in translation having not been exposed or taught about it. The initial concept for this short story was for it to read as an abstract dream or near dystopian future, where like spa treatments that not many can afford or access, futuristic simulations to experience touch are used for people who desperately want to remember a world where people used to feel less alone/isolated. Instead of talking from experiences I wanted a setting where the reader follows a character living in this futuristic, upgraded world.  I’ve never tried to write and illustrate a short story book so I wanted to challenge myself to create something that sparks ideas for a project I could possibly develop. This is by no means the finished result.