What I miss most right now

I miss hugs. That sounds so shmultzy but it's true. I'm good friends with Sofia (the Greek girl mentioned in my video tour), but I think in Greece they kiss each other's cheeks and I don't think that's a thing we'd do here, and I don't want to hug her because she's so tiny--I'd probably squash her. And I'm not really good enough friends with other people to warrant a hug (though other Sophie down in T hugged me the first time we met. She's very sociable. That's why a lot of people like her).

That hug was weeks ago and I don't think I've hugged anyone since. This is messing with me because I love hugs. I like hugs from Mum and Gabbie and all my friends.

I do have friends here, but mainly classmates and it's more on the friendly acquaintance side. Most of them are guys, too, and I wouldn't hug them because that would be weird. You need to be good friends to hug someone and I'm not quite there yet, so I'd better become good friends with people soon because otherwise I'll die inside.

Hugs are good for you, both emotionally and physically. The therapist in that article said that

“We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth.”

I've never hugged twelve times in one day, except on special occasions like Birthdays or graduation or something. How many hugs do you have a day?

Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe you don't have to be close friends to hug someone. These two toddlers hugged the first time they met each other.

Toddlers who met at an airport.

Lots of kids hug just naturally. It's really sweet. I don't know what it is about kids but they're often almost unconditionally loving. As a kid I went through the stage where you want to invite your entire grade to your birthday party. Once at the fruit store, a young girl came up to me and held my hand and just smiled and said hi. Her Mum pulled the girl gently away and said in an apologetic way, "She's going through that stage where she wants to be everybody's friend."

Why does that have to be just a stage? Okay, so it's good to discriminate a little bit. For personal safety, and also you don't want to be friends with people who bring you down. But we're all just little blobs floating around in space and it's such a weird stroke of fate who we pass. Why can't we just say hello? Must we all stay in our own little bubble? You can never have too many friends.

I hopped on the bus the other night and I decided to sit in the seat in front of a girl around my age who had a good vibe about her. But when you're out at night and are around strangers, it's harder to say hello. If we were in a more familiar setting like a classroom I might've said hello, but I was too shy to strike up a conversation with her. I just drew pictures on the foggy window for a while and when I looked back she was gone. I think she would have been a nice person to know. It's a shame that I'll probably never get that chance.

That's a whole other issue, so I'll go back to hugging now. Maybe I should do that thing that guy did and wear a sign saying Free Hugs. British people don't hug as much, I don't think. They do, but that Free Hugs thing would be weird. I wouldn't do it here.

Wow, I'd forgotten how moving that clip was. I bet that guy got his twelve a day.

Hugs should be included in that slogan "Go for 2 fruit, 5 veg, and 12 hugs each day."

The Free Hugs would be a good experiment to open you up to hugs, but then after that would you start to hug people more? I still think I'd only hug people I consider at least fairly good friends.
That is backed by another article where Melbourne psychologist Meredith Fuller says "If you are touched by people you feel safe and comfortable with, this soothing effect creates a calming response, and makes you feel safe."

In a US experiment, mentioned in the same article, women who held their husbands' hands "experienced decreased threat-related brain activity when told they would be receiving an electric shock than those who held the hand of a stranger." So hugging someone you trust will make a difference.

Or I could just buy a teddy bear. I wonder if that counts.

For the moment I'll live vicariously through these adorable kids.

I have also compiled a list of the types of hugs.