A kiss is among the most powerful and emotive gestures that we can perform for our partners, our friends, our family. Can you think of anything that triggers such fierce elation, or bring such sorrow. Do you remember your first kiss? Or perhaps the last from someone you love(d) and lost? Actions always speak louder than words. This is especially true when it comes to a kiss. It’s the age-old sign of romance, of love, of passion, of desire and of heartache. 

What a lot of people don’t realize, however, is how the context of a kiss can be changed, based on where it’s placed. A kiss on the cheek is asexual and friendly, a kiss on the hand a sign of aged respect and courtesy, a kiss on the lips means something VERY different. But a kiss on the forehead…

Oh, the forehead…

There’s something about a forehead kiss that makes it stand out above all others. It has a completely different set of connotations than a kiss on the lips. Kisses on the lips are full of lust and desire, but forehead kisses. These are something far more intimate, far more meaningful, and far more effective for building an emotional connection with someone.

I have a dear love. We dated. Sadly the fates played a joke and put us in each others path when we need different things from each other. But there remains a bond so deep it has no words, no verb. We just know we are meant to be orbiting each other. If in time, we ever collide as more, I know I will grow weak with his lips, but it is in his forehead kisses that I find home.

A kiss on the forehead is worth a thousand on the lips. It says ‘I love you for you, not just your body or what you can do for me’. It says ‘I genuinely care about your happiness and I’m interested in your well being because you are my person.’ It’s like a cup of hot chocolate and a soft blanket when the snow coats the earth. It’s the emotional equivalent of a warm lavender bath and an evening in front of a big fire or the sun on your face after a long rain. It’s a wholesome, truly loving gesture, one which doesn’t suggest that you want anything other than true presence.

It’s such a versatile, action, that can be used in a range of scenarios. When your partner or friend is feeling down or stressed, a forehead kiss brings them  back to reality, back to the present moment here and now, to the understanding that the only thing that really matters is the two of you in that space, at that time. It helps them to realize that both of you have everything you could ever want, that you can fight any battle, and you’ll have each other’s back.

When you’re proud of them, nothing communicates that quite like a kiss on the forehead. When you’ve missed them after a long separation; when you’re worried about them; when you’re relieved that they’re safe – a forehead kiss speaks volumes. So much louder than words. 

It’s a kiss not for their person, but their soul. That’s why they’re so powerful. That’s why we remember them. Other kisses pile up and get lost in the currents and passions of time. A forehead kiss is grounding and perhaps the most meaningful of them all. It doesn’t require reciprocation, nor does it need follow-up action. A forehead kiss is better than a thousand kisses on the lips – they are deliberate, without lust and full of respect. It’s a deep sign of the purest love and trust.