Hugs

For one moment our souls met

our lives touched

Oscar Wilde

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There’s something quite beautiful about the expressions and the embraces, the connection and community, the open arms and open hearts that are witnessed in this video, crossing language and culture.

Hugging is healthy…undeniably. Powerful physiological, developmental effects. When hugged more, orphans gain more weight and get bigger. When hugged more, couples have lower heart rate and lower blood pressure when having an argument. Children do better in school, physical pain is reduced. I could go on.

One of the people we learned about in counselling school was Virginia Satir. Very cool, very down to earth woman who was a master at the art of therapy. She was famously and repeatedly quoted saying:

We need 4 hugs a day for survival.

We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance.

We need 12 hugs a day for growth

Some of you reading this might feel tears in your eyes, understanding and knowing what I mean, but aching because you haven’t felt the arms of another around you in a long time. It’s hard to need a hug and not have ready access. I wish I had some easy answer for you. I don’t. That’s a lousy spot to be in.

But in some small part, that’s why I write this post. When I watched this video, just watching other people be hugged, watching their expressions–surprise, delight, and joy–well, it sorta had me feeling rather hugged in the moment of watching it.

Hope it had you feeling hugged too.