Virginia Satir says that we need 4 hugs a day to survive, 8 hugs to sustain us and 12 hugs to grow. According to her, we need 8 hugs a day to be happy! And I’m not sure that just any hug will do!
There is much more to a hug than a gesture. There is contact, connection, meaning… There are all types of hugs.
There are hugs of protocol and education, of office and profit. There are hugs of listening and support, there are hugs of help, of understanding, of giving and receiving.
There are hugs of security and trust. There are hugs of insecurity and mistrust. There are hugs that can even drain your energy.
There are hugs of interest, forced, out of commitment, where something is torn out of my gut. Something pulls me out and I don’t know what it is. But it scares me and becomes an embrace of rejection.
These are not the same as the hugs of receiving and resting, the ones where you can let off steam, even cry. Nor is it the same as the hugs of union, or those of a soulful farewell. There are hugs of reunion, of asking for forgiveness and forgiving. Hugs that express an apology.
Maternal hugs, grandmother hugs, grandfather hugs, aunt and niece hugs, hugs of tenderness, of strength. Bear hugs. Hugs that confuses you and denied hugs.
Pandemic hugs, forbidden hugs and welcomed hugs. Hugs for lovers, group hugs and natural hugs.
Hugs of fragility and hugs of strength. There are short hugs and long hugs. Those long hugs are sometimes hugs to go through many aspects of one’s self. Of going through emotions and fears. Of learning to trust. There are hugs to laugh and hugs to cry.
Friendship hugs, family hugs, strange hugs, therapist hugs, and early morning hugs. Those in which you wake up at night looking for home and there you find it. Hugs of searching and hugs of finding. Hugs of emptiness and hugs of addiction. Hugs of control and of uncontrol. Embraces of yes and embraces of no.
And there are also hugs of celebration, like the one we send to all of you today, to celebrate that we are 1000 people embarked in this project.
A project that makes sense to us; MakeSense2us
A heartfelt thank you to each and everyone of you.
