You Need a Cwtch
You need a cwtch. In fact, the whole world needs a cwtch.
Let me explain. There are words in other languages that are able to say something we can’t quite express in a single word in English, and where a long explanation just spoils the mood. Cwtch is such a word.
When the Welsh say “give me a cwtch” (rhymes a little bit with “butch”, but a bit softer) it means “give me a hug”, but it means so much more. It’s not just a hug.
The word also means a cubbyhole, a little nook to which a little child can retreat for comfort and safety when they’re sad, and thus a cwtch is a place of emotional safety, a place where you don’t need to say anything, a place where you simply know you are loved more than anything in the world. A cwtch wraps itself around your heart and soul, not just your shoulders.
A cwtch is for the distraught child, terrified by a bad dream, while you rock her in your arms. Lovers who must part for the last time cling silently in a cwtch. When your daughter is leaving for the ends of the earth, you hold her fiercely in a cwtch. When your friend tells you he has terminal cancer, and there is nothing to say, you hold him and time itself in a cwtch.
A cwtch is when two souls embrace, saying nothing. It means, “I love you with no conditions, and you must never forget it.” The memories of a cwtch are the currency you will spend in times of loneliness and hardship.
These have been hard and fearful times, what with the pandemic and the insanity in America. Virtual meetings are good– a whole lot better than nothing. But how much we all need a cwtch. I’m saving up a whole bunch of them!
Who are you saving up yours for?