hug more

And I have been remiss in this.

It is not enough to think it.

It is not enough to smile.

It is not enough to be greatful.

The key is to SAY IT.

So I am.

Thank You!

It has been a troubled day. One that requires that most basic of healing gifts…

A hug.

Oh how I long for a simple, and sincere, rib smashing hug.

... since I can’t even remember when the last time I hugged was, it’s safe to say that this goal is no-where near close to being completed.

SOme of the best hugs you can ever experience are the ones that come in the form of a home cooked meal.

Shrimp.

Tossed vegetables.

delicious mushroom ravioli…

fine grated cheeses…

a touch of fresh crushed and minced garlic…

plated neatly with a roue of cheese, shrimp sauce, light butter spray, cracked pepper…

and you have love on a plate.

the best hug of all…

And given freely…

to help me…

despite my ability to frustrate

the one

who tried

to

help.

Thank you!

someone i only vaguely know gave me a big pickup hug the other day, totally unexpected and in front of people. it caught me offguard but it was great! so i have resolved to put it out to the universe that i need more pickup hugs. i am small(ish) so it’s not too much to ask for i think…

It was a hard day.

More so for one I care about.

Dissapointments have come.

Frustration.

And a potential open door has been closed.

The hardest part is trusting that it is for the best, and that this is the result of circumstances and opinions not relating to them.

It is very hard not to blame yourself when things don’t go as you might wish or have planned.

Faith is required.

And the realization that nothing has actually changed.

Except the faith in one’s one abilitities and character that continue to shine through.

The problem with looking in the mirror is that the perception of what you see is often distorted. And like a funhouse mirror what you see in your own mind is not an accurate reflection of reality.

This is a hug in the form of a reminder…

The image I see is not distorted in that way….

I’ve managed to get comfortable enough giving hugs to people I know now to take this one off the list. I’ve just got to remember to keep doing it.

Many people spend their lives huddled in a corner.

They identify themselves by who their family is....

or

What schools they went to...

or

I work for the conhudgeco conglomerate...

or

I am a certified Insert specialty here whatever you may be...

Where the real character defining moments come…

is when you choose to live instead.

In this case it was the psychic equivelent to throwing open the hidden closet to expose the skeleton that resided within, turning on a spot light, dusting it off, hitting the house lights, taking publicity photos AND writing an op-ed piece.

Many people end up drug addicts, drunks, dead or worse from the life experiences it took to craft that skeleton…

But not in this case.

Here, the experience has been transformed into the pressures necessary to produce a diamond of the soul.

One who chose to live instead of labeling themselves as victim forever more…

And ended on a note of forgiveness…

And a touch of humanity in spite of the flaming gates of hell that it would have been so easy to unleash…

This is a special hug for the one who chose to live.

i just realized something about my most recent relationship that is now ending: we were not open when we greeted each other at first. i remember it being awkward, kind of, like we didn’t know what to do. it was sweet, though; we were just shy. we were really affectionate otherwise, but those first moments were never like HEY I’M REALLY GLAD TO SEE YOU.

that’s what a hug says! and i love it when people i don’t know too well, or maybe have only gone out with once, or maybe even feel awkward around in other ways, offer the big squishee hug. it’s so nice. it may even say ‘i forgive you, i care about you, it’s okay.’

old friends, new friends, dates, even exes…i’m going to instigate it next.