I never thought I’d get paid to cuddle strangers. And yet, here I am—27 years old, pursuing a career in a completely unrelated field by day, and offering platonic touch therapy by night. It’s unconventional. It’s intimate. And it’s more emotionally complicated than I expected.

People hear “professional cuddler” and assume the worst. That it’s some sort of thinly veiled sex work. That it’s transactional, or even predatory. But I can say—unequivocally—it’s neither of those things. It’s a job rooted in connection, boundaries, and the simple, aching human need to be held.

[Read more…] about “They Just Want to Be Held”: My Life as a Professional Cuddler