Sittin' In A Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

I feel very weird about PDA (public displays of affection). Not things like holding hands or putting an arm around someone. I'm talking about the kissing stuff.

Whenever people romantically kiss in front of me, even if it's just a peck, I feel like I'm intruding on something extremely personal...almost like I just walked in on someone in the middle of changing clothes or having a very serious, private conversation. If I happen to glance at someone in an act of PDA, I have the urge to wave my hands, frantically apologize for my intrusion, and awkwardly walk away. 

Yes, I know I'm Catholic. What do Catholics do best? Enjoy good beer and make babies. So obviously, due to the latter activity, I'm fine with the actual act of kissing. God created it. It's a good thing. I'm not some anti-physical-touch-in-any-way sort of person. In fact, I'd say I'm annoyingly touchy and clingy. But to me, it's such a private thing. I don't feel comfortable kissing my husband in front of anyone. I didn't even want to do the "You may now kiss the Bride" part at the end of our wedding...but did it anyway.

Why is kissing so personal? (And just so we're clear, folks, I'm talking about the romantic type...not the type of kiss you give a cute little baby) Well, it typically means one of two things: A) You want to closely connect with someone in a way that you can't with anyone else, or B) You want to initiate the most profound physical intimacy a husband and wife can experience: sex (I do use that "s" word on my blog. It's not a bad word. Don't be afraid of it. God created it, therefore, as long as it is done in the way God intended, IT IS GOOD!).

In either situation, that's nonna mah business. So I don't want to see it. And I think most people would agree, at least, that kissing is a very special thing. I mean, you wouldn't just go up to some random stranger and start kissing them, would you?

Previously, I would have assumed most people would answer that question as "Why Ashley, of course I wouldn't! That's quite absurd! Whyever would I do something like that?" (because people talk like that)

Turns out I'm wrong.

There's a video that's gone viral called "First Kiss" on youtube. I'm not going to post it on this blog because I have no desire to watch it, so if you want to see it, you're going to have to go alllll the way to youtube and find it yourself. I'm sorry...life is hard sometimes.

Instead, I'll post this picture of my dog. There, feel better?

ANYWAY, this video apparently shows twenty different people (all strangers) pairing up, and what happens when they start kissing each other.

Um. What? I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised...if the act of intercourse if commonly shared between two strangers this day and age, why is it so weird that kissing would be? Perhaps I still live in the Middle Ages.

I've seen descriptions of the video as "beautiful", "breathtaking," "miraculous", and all sorts of other adjectives that make it sound synonymous to a spectacular sunrise on a mountainous range with birds flying and everything is magical and glorious and oh my gosh uh-may-zing.

I just don't get it. And I don't think I'm being prudish. To me, kissing (and any kind of physical intimacy) still means something. And despite what society wants to tell us, I think many people agree. Deep down. Maybe even the people on that video...