"Free Hugs"

So I want to preface this by saying that nothing that we did was for our own benefit. And I'm not trying to talk us up. I just want to share what turned out to be a really cool experience.

FIRST watch the video:



Inspired by the video and the fact that it seemed such an easy thing to do, Amy and I decided to go give out "Free Hugs" in downtown San Diego last night. We stuck with the purpose of the Free Hugs Campaign, that sometimes all people need is a hug. Most people that we met were pretty skeptical, expecting us to sell something. To be honest, we didn't try to. If people would ask a specific question if we believed in Jesus or were Christians we of course wouldn't lie to them. But for the most part we just told people we were giving out free hugs because sometimes people just needed a hug. Others asked if it was a class project, or some kind of sorority initiation. They had a hard time believing that 2 girls in their 20's would spend their Friday night giving out hugs.

The reactions were kind of all over the place. There were a few people who already saw the video and were excited to give us a hug. But mostly we got weird looks. MOST people figured we were trying to sell them something and would only give us a hug or smile once they realized we really were just out to give hugs. We hugged everyone, young and old, tall and short, smelly and not. We had one older man that seemed really impressed with what we were doing. He told me that he really appreciated the random kindness because you never know what can happen in life. Earlier in the week his friend was killed in a car accident. He stood and kind of watched for a distance for awhile and then wrote us a really cheesy poem on a prescription paper:

"I see you make a diffence
You show you really care
I see you make a difference
In the smiles and hugs you share
I see you make a difference to people short and tall
I see you make a difference
When most don't care at all"

We hugged a man who we realized afterwards was kind of fuming. He apparently had just come out of a really bad argument with someone and said the hug was really nice and it was helping him to calm down to just talk to a stranger. We heard a lot of people saying that what we were doing was really appreciated, either that they really needed a hug, or just that it was nice. Most people left us smiling. Some people hugged each other even if they didn't hug us.

All in all we guessed that we hugged about 200 people. A ton of people took pictures with us because they thought it was fun. I was physically picked up 5 times and spun around 3 of those times, haha. We honestly didn't know what to expect. It was pretty uncomfortable at first, and we were asked to move once because the owner of a club didn't like us right outside. But we just moved down a couple of blocks without a problem.

So if you feel like passing out a little love and maybe making a strangers day a little bit better, I highly recommend going out and giving some free hugs!