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appreciate the humble kiss on

International Kissing Day

6 July 2013

International Kissing Day takes place on 6 July in the UK. However, the day has now been adopted worldwide and is also known as National Kissing Day or Kissing Day.

When I think about it, the concept of a kiss is everywhere in society and has many meanings. A first kiss. A formal kiss. A passionate kiss. A kiss goodbye.

Kissing Day aims to make us appreciate a kiss in its own right. No conventions, no social norms, just a kiss. Across the globe we embrace the kiss by embracing someone else.

Competition to hold the record for the longest kiss is rife - on 6-7 July 2005 the record was set in the UK at 31 hours and 30 minutes. Then on Valentine's Day 2009 Nikola Matovic and Kristina Reinhart from Germany set a new record of just over 32 hours.

On 13 February 2011, a Thai couple, husband and wife team Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat locked lips and began their quest to break the longest kiss record. After 46 hours and 24 minutes they claimed a new record for the longest kiss. Impressive!

Nonthawat Charoenkaesornsin and Thanakorn Sitthiamthong kissed their way to the title at an event in Pattaya, Thailand on 12-14 February 2012. But now the tables have turned and Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat successfully regained their crown on 12-14 February 2013 and the record for the longest kiss now stands at 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds - wow, that's some kiss!

Perhaps you can get some kissing tips from a friend before puckering up. Or delve into one of the many kissing guides that proclaim to make you the world's best kisser!

Think of your first kiss ... was it all you expected and a treasured memory or were you too nervous to really care?

Think of your sweetest kiss ... a kiss from your child? A thank you kiss from your closest friend? And think of all those supposedly meaningless kisses. Next time I kiss someone I will just think about how delightful it is and not about what it 'means'.