{"id":379602,"date":"2013-02-14T22:46:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T22:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/14\/free-hugs\/"},"modified":"2013-02-14T22:46:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-14T22:46:00","slug":"free-hugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/14\/free-hugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Hugs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On one of my trips to NYC a few years ago, I came across a small group of unique people in Times Square.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I realize that might sound a bit redundant using unique<\/i> and NYC<\/i> in the same breath, but these individuals were truly special.<\/span><\/div>\n
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You see, they were holding up signs that read \u201cFree Hugs.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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I let out a little squeal of delight and said to the girlfriends I was with, \u201cLook! Free Hugs! Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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One of my friends was equally delighted.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cYou\u2019re not<\/i> going to do that, are<\/i> you?\u201d one of the naysayers responded, \u201cYou have no idea who these people are.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s the problem with this world,\u201d I said as I took the one willing participant by the hand, \u201cpeople are too afraid of everything. They\u2019re giving out hugs, for crying out loud.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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The other hugger and I giggled our way between outstretched arms, commenting how delighted we were with this simple act of kindness.<\/span><\/div>\n
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And then last summer The Indie Chicks<\/em> online magazine did a spotlight piece on <\/span>Rita Chand – The Woman Who Hugged the World<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Yesterday I had a session with The Right Therapist, in which we were discussing how different members of my family show affection.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m a hugger,\u201d I said. \u201cI hug almost everyone and if I\u2019d met you on the street I might have been inclined to hug you, too, if the timing and mood somehow seemed right.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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It\u2019s true. There\u2019s nothing like a warm embrace to brighten my day or to convey the message that the recipient is thought of in a special way.<\/span><\/div>\n
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In honor of Valentine\u2019s Day, I\u2019m sending out the biggest heartfelt hug to all of the world who happens to find me in this vast blogosphere.<\/span><\/div>\n
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How about you? Are you a hugger and\/or a kisser? Better yet, do you believe in the power of a heartfelt hug? Share the love and leave a {Hug} in a comment!<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
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{Hugs}<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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<\/span><\/o:p><\/b>Soon\u2026<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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\ufeff<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On one of my trips to NYC a few years ago, I came across a small group of unique people in Times Square. I realize that might sound a bit redundant using unique and NYC in the same breath, but these individuals were truly special. You see, they were holding up signs that read \u201cFree […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[713,714,715,716,717,718,236,218,719],"class_list":["post-379602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-affection","tag-displays-of-affection","tag-fre-hugs","tag-girl-who-hugged-the-world","tag-hugs","tag-showing-affection","tag-the-indie-chicks","tag-valentines-day","tag-warmth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Free-Hugs.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}