Hugs With Strangers

It’s one of the most wonderful feelings in life…the hug.

Whether it’s from a family member, a friend, or even a stranger there is something to be said about how that one simple act can brighten ones day.

Last weekend my son and I went to Comic Con in London and as we walked around we started noticing that a lot of people (mostly girls) were walking around with “free hugs” signs.  So we decided to take them up on their offer and something magical happened.

Every time we would hug the person who held the sign the hugs didn’t stop at just them…we also hugged their friends who were with them resulting in laughter, love, and huge smiles all around.  The feeling from the hug of a complete stranger made our day even better.  That feeling of happiness and content that we felt the rest of the day because of a complete stranger giving away free hugs is something that will stay in my heart forever.

Touch is an important component of attachment as it creates bonds between two individuals even if just for that brief moment in time.  Humans need touch to survive, it’s a fact.  What these young people did for the people who took them up on their offer for a “free hug” was spectacular and affected everyone in a positive way for a long time, if not for just that day.

In society we have become involved with our electronics to an extreme therefore resulting in less communication with humans, and especially human touch.  We don’t have to be in person to talk to one another now, we can just text or email, or even Skype.  We put on our earphones and we forget about the person next to us on the train or at the gym.  No commutation, eyes down, no speaking and getting to know each other like we used to.  Now we can just ignore everyone and look at our iPhones.  It’s sad really how society is becoming.

It reminds me of the movie “Warm Bodies” (great movie by the way), where the main character is a zombie who just wants to connect with someone.  He finally does and it starts to turn him into the living again.  In fact all of the zombies in the movie (except the boney’s) start becoming human again when they start to communicate with the living.  This is like humanity now if you think about it.  We go on with our days walking around like zombies doing what we have to to survive all the while keeping our heads down and in the meantime never communicating with anyone along the way.  Here’s the trailer for the movie, see if you can see a connection to what I’m saying:

When I think about that day at Comic Con now, I have this overwhelming feeling of wanting to go back in time to that day and relive it again.  I’m sure it’s because my son and I have that memory of going to Comic Con together, but I also think that all of those hugs that day affected the way I will always feel about it…

Maybe if we quit staring at our phones and started to just talk to people society would become a better place again.  Maybe if we took the time to hug each other maybe the world would become a better place…

Until next time…