Go on....don't be a Chicken! Bok bok!

Ginger: So laying eggs all your life and then getting plucked, stuffed and roasted is good enough for you, is it? 
Babs: It's a livin'

from the movie:  Chicken Run

I read a post a few minutes ago about today being National Hugging Day.  That's right--January 21st is a day set aside to honor hugging--who would have even know there was such a day.

I don't think I used to consider myself a hugger--not that I was against it or anything---it just made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

I became more of a hugger once I began working

in the church world.  As the congregation would leave on Sunday's, as they would pass, many would hug me, especially older women who lived alone.  It took me back at first but after awhile I became accustomed to the hugs and even came to expect them.

As a stanch independent woman per se, I didn't need hugs from anyone, and if I didn't hug or ask for hugs--well

it proved I didn't need anything from anyone.--that was the lie I told myself.  I started watching these women and a few older gentlemen who would sometimes hug a bit too close--I was younger than most of the women in their assisted living home.

I came to appreciate each one and realized that my hug and touch at the door may be the only human one they get until the next Sunday.  This re framed the act for me--hugging that is.

Last year, my daughter complained that I never hugged them.

It surprised me.  I thought I did and even though I told them I loved them--it seemed they realized that I pulled away when they hugged me.  I've thought alot about that statement and I've done some serious soul searching since then.  I've realized alot of thing about myself and the way things in the past can haunt us in ways we never realized.  Once we realize--we can change.

Last year when I started blogging, I began reading My year of hugs, 365 days of hugging.  Melinda spends her days hugging whoever she encounters often complete strangers and then blogging about her encounters.  I've enjoyed reading her daily and watching her inner beauty unfold as she touches the world, changes the world, makes the world a bit more loving as she moves through her ordinary day of being a mom, shopping at target, getting produce from a local farm all the while hugging and then articulating her experience through her daily blog.

I think I've been changed by reading her.  I find that I'd classify myself as a hugger now.  Yesterday, I hugged an employee who was upset and then hugged Big Daddy and was blessed with an opportunity to hug a person who gifted me by sharing a bit of her grief as she explained she'd lost her teenage son and mother within four months of each other.  Every time, I hug someone---I think of Melinda's blog.

I hope you'll go over today and tell her I sent you.

All you have to do is type the word

(Hug)

she'll understand what it means.

You can find her:

http://myyearofhugs.com

tell her

the radical rambler sent you.

touch

it changes us

molds us into more loving people

changes

ourself,

our neighborhood and community

and

little by little

it changes the world

by putting goodness back into it.

One hug at a time!!!!!

So go on...

Don't be a big chicken baby---Hug somebody!

I triple chicken dare you!  bok bok.....

Happy Hugging day....

(Hug)