{"id":8958,"date":"2017-05-19T14:16:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T18:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?p=8958"},"modified":"2017-05-19T14:16:09","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T18:16:09","slug":"hugs-heal-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2017\/05\/hugs-heal-hate.html","title":{"rendered":"Hugs Heal Hate: Blog March"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"16251767_10211662523136788_3303053129138741977_o<\/a><\/p>\n

When my friend Robin Renee invited me to participate in a worldwide Blog March<\/a>, I was an enthusiastic YES! Like many in my circles, she is feeling a sense of overwhelm over the current political climate and wanted to do something constructive about it. Being a creative soul as a singer-songwriter, journalist, and teacher, she came up with the idea of gathering together her passionate, prolific and outspoken friends and have each of us pen something that offers a sense of optimism and perhaps even a call to action.<\/p>\n

Because I am action oriented, I want to share with you a powerful way that I have faced the challenges that have ensued since last November. In addition to being a journalist, who writes often for Beliefnet<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0HuffPo<\/a> as well as Psych Central<\/a>, Elephant Journal<\/a>, and The Good Men Project<\/a>, I am also one of those folks who carry a sign which indicates that I offer FREE Hugs.\u00a0 My journey to becoming what my friend Tom calls a \u2018Mutha Hugga!\u2019 began on Valentines\u2019 Day weekend of 2014. I gathered friends at 30th<\/sup> Street Station in Philadelphia and we did a Free Hugs Flash Mob surprising the travelers who passed through on their way to who knows where. Friends started calling us Hug Mobsters. It felt out of synch with my pacifist sensibilities, so I added the tag line: Armed with Love. Since then, I have taken my huge hug\u00a0mission on the road, here in Bucks County, PA, in Philadelphia, DC, Phoenix, at my polling place on Election Day, at parades, community events, socially conscious rallies as well as athletic races. On October 15, 2016, along with huggers in 20 cities nationwide, I was enfolding willing passersby at the Love Sculpture in The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection at an event called Hugs Across America<\/a>. I proudly carried my Hug Mobsters sign and offered my open arms at the Women\u2019s March in Philadelphia immediately following the inauguration.<\/p>\n

What I have discovered is that in addition to the health benefits of hugs, which are:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n