I really believe that a hug can be a very powerful thing. I was inspired by this story I heard of a man in Australia who, because he was feeling down one day, decided to go out in the city where he lived and offer to give hugs to people who wanted them. He called it a "Free Hug" campaign. There is a Youtube video about it too (click here to see). I've also seen college students doing it as well. When I heard about it/saw it originally, I thought it was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen. Then, on my 25th birthday I decided that I wanted to do something that I felt was a little out of my comfort zone. (I found becoming a quarter of a century old gave me the guts to do it!) So, with a group of awesome friends I managed to rope into going along with my crazy plan, we made signs saying "Need a Hug?" and went out into Boston where I live and gave hugs to people. We also bought Hershey Hugs to give out to people as well.
I told my friends that we'd stick around for about an hour and if the thing didn't go off too well, we could always go get ice cream (because ice cream makes things better.) We ended up staying out there for 4 hours and we ran out of chocolate after about 45 minutes and had to get more. The whole thing seemed to mean a lot to people. One guy came up and told us that he'd quit smoking that week and had been feeling pretty crummy until he saw us. People even got poetic about it - another individual came up and thanked us for "being human in this concrete jungle." Another guy who was an exchange student from Germany even joined in and gave hugs with us. Even if they didn't want a hug everyone we saw and asked if they wanted a hug still smiled when they saw us. It was truly an awesome birthday.
We all had so much fun that day that I've been doing the "Need a Hug" campaign every year since 2010. I figure a birthday is a day to be happy and I'm really glad I found some way to make a day a little brighter for a considerable amount of people and I hope that trend continues! I send all who read this a big hug. :)
maggie, thank you so very much for this beautiful story. I am actually in Boston visiting a friend right now and had a bad experience on a train where a strange man was trying to talk to me and grabbed my hand. I was so angry...thank you thank you thank you for reminding me of the good people in this world. I am going to try so hard to focus on the beauty - choosing love over fear :) Thank you for this beautiful gift you have given me maggie. - Emily W.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you had a bad experience! If you are still in Boston I hope things get better for you and that other than that experience you are having fun!!
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