With COVID-19 keeping many of us away from loved ones, friends, extended family, and even new romantic partners, we have never been so collectively starved for physical touch. But our decline in physical touch didn't start with the pandemic. Experts have reported a decline in hugs for over a decade. We are more apprehensive than ever to embrace and touch the people in our lives for fear that it could be unwanted or misinterpreted, whether that's the workplace, the classroom, or even out with friends.

There is a cure for the Valentine's Day debacles, and starting now might be a way that you could plan ahead with your partner to make it a day of healing instead of strife.

Nelson Mandela might not have been talking about sex when he said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Yet, there may be no place in the human psyche that this is more true.