Soft get going - http://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2010/04/soft-get-going.html
Soothing, velvety love - http://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2009/08/soothing-velvety-love.html
I continue to be fascinated by soothing care: what it is like and how to use it and what its effects are. The two links above touch on this subject. I suspect that even while adults might poo-poo their need for, or susceptibility to, soothing tones and strokes, they may benefit from them. If we do benefit from a type of unconditional soothing and sympathy, it is a waste for us to maintain that we don't.
I think it would be cool if sometime in the future, rugged male athletes had a bosomy granny on the bench who would hold them close and whisper that their pain and sorrow from an injury or loss would soon pass. If the team owners and the medical staff had good evidence that such care more rapidly elevated spirits and healed wounds, you can bet that one or more grannies would be paid big bucks or given free passes to hold those valuable players close. Can't you just see the GSC magazine about Granny Soothing Coaches with a monthly spread on the best older lady of the bunch and her advice to newcomers to the field?
The recent blog post "Is Ass-Kissing Good for Your Health?" got my attention. I have an Anglo background, where low levels of emotion are prized and where everyone is too tough to need or want much love or support. The scenes of "The King's Speech" are great examples of what I am talking about. You know:
"Buck up!"
"Try harder, boy!"
"It's easy! It's your duty. I expect it of you."
"You will get no respect or love from anyone unless you …"
I know that such a commanding approach can work sometimes but when it doesn't, it may be time for a different, warmer, more sympathetic approach. (The linked article has a neat 'label' of a product that is supposed to improve one's ass-kissing or ingratiation abilities with a list of phrases that may be used.) I realize there is a difference between the uses of ingratiation and those of soothing, but I suspect one skill is related to the other.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
