The Power of Patting

(you can find this explanation on google)

[FYI] Patting adalah bentuk gerund dari kata pat yang memiliki makna: 
Sentuhan ringan menggunakan telapak tangan (biasanya kalo obyeknya adalah manusia, maka bagian tubuh yang disentuh adalah punggung, pundak atau kepala)

Patting merupakan sebuah gestur yang biasanya digunakan untuk menunjukkan affection (Bahasa Indonesianya affection sih apa??) pada obyek/lawan interaksi kita. Kalau kalian masih sulit buat memahami apa itu patting, mungkin kalian akan lebih paham maknanya dari contoh berikut:
‘Andrew tidak bisa berbuat apa-apa selain menepuk-nepuk pundak Ryan, sang sahabat baik yang masih terlihat syok saat kabar kecelakaan itu sampai di telinganya’

-I hope you get the point regardless how absurd my illustration is-

Patting adalah salah satu kekuatan supranatural tersembunyi yang dimiliki oleh manusia, khususnya sebagai makhluk sosial. Mungkin memang nggak banyak orang yang memahami seberapa besar efek patting, but for me…really, it means great deal.

(Mengingat gue adalah manusia dengan kepribadian yang rentannya ngalahin es krim yang sudah dibeli tapi lupa nggak dimasukin ke freezer, ada banyak hal –I mean, BANYAK- yang dengan mudahnya bisa membuat gue sedih, bingung, depresi dan berbagai perasaan emosional lainnya)

Pada suatu hari, ada kejadian yang sangat buruk terjadi sampai-sampai gue kehilangan kontrol pada mode jaim gue. Kejadian ini di depan orang banyak dan biasanya gue bisa menahan diri. Sayangnya..that day was not an ordinary day.

Ah, gue menyerah, gue rasa gue nggak bisa melanjutkan cerita cengeng ini menggunakan Bahasa Indonesia, hehe…forgive my cowardness.

Okay, let’s try to start the story once again.

That day,

People went in and out to encourage me, saying cheerful words and convinced me that everything is going to be all right. Unluckily, I am the kind of person who would cry even more if someone tries to comfort me when I am already in a bad state. I covered my face with my hands even tighter because tears started to run off. I tried my best to hide my body shaking –yeah, human body is going to shake uncontrollably whenever they try to hold their tears too hard-

That was when that person came to me.
That person said nothing.
That person just stood behind me for a while and then patted my back gently.

The moment that hand touched my back, a warm feeling entered my body, spread through my nerves, and I strangely felt safe. ‘Everything will be okay’, ‘Don’t worry, we are here for you’, ‘Tomorrow will be better’, those phrases, sentences, it couldn’t reach me yet surprisingly, one simple gesture had power to melt the mountain of ice that covered my sight with nothing but darkness. *terus Princess Elsa dadakan nyanyi lagu let it go*

I owed that person so much that day.
Maybe it was true that my problems did not suddenly disappear because of that mere gesture. But at least I knew that there was someone who genuinely cared,  watched me and supported me.
(To help you get the big picture, I would describe that the sensation it gives similar to the feeling when a lost kid finally meets her mom in a really crowded supermarket)

That day, when that gigantic problem struck, I wasnt ready. My mind went blank and I kinda lost. I wanted to escape but the exit was nowhere to be found. Then i started to feel that I was trapped. That was when patting showed its power. Patting came within that anxious feeling. It helped me to turn aside, stopped focusing on my misery and slowly calmed myself.

(Well..that was just my personal experience though, I wouldnt be surprised if other people have different opinion or experience different sensation when it comes to patting)

The point Im trying to share here is:
For me, patting is a generous act that can save a life. (LOL, I start to think that I am a pervert who loves physical interaction. I am screwed)

Still, thanks a lot.