Free Hugs campaign (Photo credit: surfstyle)
Today, while walking back to my dorm after a long chat with my professor about Romantic poet William Blake, I saw a guy walking around campus carrying a Free Hugs sign.
Though I had heard about this type of phenomenon before, I’d never actually seen it in person.
The Free Hugs campaign was initially started by Juan Mann (is that his real name? seriously?) during a time of disconnection in his life in order to brighten up the lives of other people who feel the same loss of belonging. The idea is to walk around a heavily populated area holding a sign that says Free Hugs and wait until people hug you. Simple. Effective.
Now, I’m not sure if this guy even knew this was a campaign or had just seen it on Youtube and thought it looked fun, but I applaud him for having the courage to do this.
Unfortunately, I do not possess that level of bravery. I walked right past him, even made eye contact and smiled, but I didn’t hug him. I was fully prepared to, but then he looked at me kind of nervously, as if he didn’t really want me to hug him, so I didn’t (at least that’s the excuse I’m making up for myself).
Now that I’ve had time to meditate on the situation, I regret not hugging him. Why shouldn’t I? Am I just like the other drones of society who have become disconnected with each other? The ones this campaign was intended for? I don’t want to be a drone. Do you?
So, today, my challenge for my readers (one I’ve already failed at myself) is to step out of your comfort zone. Don’t be a drone. Hug a stranger.*
*Not any stranger, especially a scary one. Please, use careful judgment.
Life Accordinglee 
Love the photos. And it’s not true that your blog is becoming one of those diary blogs. Your life is quite interesting, and the way you write isn’t one of those whiny, ne-ne-ne-ne-ne blogs. I actually enjoy reading your posts. Looking forward to reading more of your posts soon. Cheers! =)
Well, thank you very much. It’s good to know my fear isn’t coming true. 🙂
Nope, it isn’t. No worries. Haha. My biggest nightmare actually just happened again. I published my latest post and had to revise the entire first paragraph. Haha. Patience isn’t one of my best qualities, apparently. =)
I feel like most of us would regret not hugging the stranger with the sign in the moment. Sometimes when in a crowd we are afraid to be spontaneous but it is surprising when someone actually goes and does something most people follow. Why can’t that person be us? I will try my best to try and remember to hug a stranger. Hugs to you. Does that count?