Cold radiation

"Luminescence is emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; it is thus a form of cold-body radiation."

Wikipedia's definition of luminescence immediately put me in mind of a literal cold-body radiation. I still don't quite understand it. It happened when my then-boyfriend attended church with me.

"Church" was not really church the way a typical Christian might think it. The term was used for lack of something else recognizable, something that would identify the building as a place of worship that wasn't a mainstream religion. The philosophy offered in this church was one of compassion, tolerance, positivity and personal responsibility. The church also believed in the power of healing but did not promote actual laying on of hands. Which led me to learn about the aura and the invisible body.

Yes, a bit New Agey but I liked it and still do. With this sort of thing in my life, I was getting into the idea of us being energy bodies and of our thoughts going beyond our brains through other means than actual facial expressions or words. I was learning to meditate, I had started to see auras, and was even able to astral project somewhat. I could also tell when somebody else did it. I was totally into love and light and attracting it to me and all that (I was in my teens and it was California, y'know).

So I was baffled when my boyfriend went to church with me—and radiated coldness. I had been to that church many times before and never felt a draft. But the side of my body that was next to him was feeling a chill while the other side wasn't. It was almost like someone had placed a curtain of ice directly between us.

I have never really found a good explanation for that. Searching through the internet, I (re)learn that we perceive something as cold if it radiates less heat than its surroundings do. Which doesn't really help. I hadn't experienced this sitting next to my boyfriend before—and there was one other thing: The woman sitting on his other side looked at him closely, like she was trying to figure something out about him. Did she feel the cold, too?

It was probably just some natural thermodynamic thing going on, but with other things in our relationship piled on, this incident became yet another reason to dump the dude.


The Daily Prompt: Luminescent