Today is National Hug Day, but hug day began for me a long time ago starting with my following Leo Buscgalia in high school. Leo was a hugger and helped me navigate life in a positive and meaningful way through his books. Leo taught me a lot about love, being a caring human being. as well as being a teacher. In 1983, a group of my grade six students and I decided to start a hug day in our school. The students wrote a letter (which I still have today) to our then Mayor Ralph Klein who proclaimed March 11 th 1983 as Hug Day:
Whereas on this special day no one is allowed to fight;
Whereas no one on this day is allowed to argue;
Whereas on this day, everyone is to have a happy day with as much courtesy and kindness shown to one another as possible
Now therefore , I , Ralph Klein, Mayor of the City of Calgary, do hereby proclaim Friday, March 11th, 1983 as “hug Day “in recognition of the kind and thoughtful students of the grade six class of St. Cecilia Elementary School who originated this day.
Hugs truly matter and can have a wonderful effect our mental health. Hugs increase our sleep, make us feel better and are overall good for our health and well being. It is too bad that hugging in school has changed. I recognize that we need to set boundaries for sure. It is extremely important that the person being hugged is open to hugs. However, hug days in school was a good thing and something I am proud of and brings back such positive thoughts. It was a special day and holds special memories for the students that I have taught.
This year will be our 40th year since Hug Day began. Before the pandemic I got together with my very loving and caring students, now all in their fifty’s and I am hoping we get together again to celebrate life, each other and a few hugs.
For sure hugs have led to my happiness, having a positive impact on me, my loved ones and their well being and I hope they do yours too.
Feel free to copy / print and share FREE ly with others.
There are so many creative people in the world and oh how lucky am I to be connected to such creative and fabulous people on twitter.
“Where The World Finds Gratitude in the Rhythm of Shared Writing” Kevin Hodgson
Thank you for the inspiration #DS106. Creating is so good for our mental health. I am always inspired by @grammasheri . i love that she nudges me to join in on her creative endeavours. I am also grateful to @wendtale who has also given me a nudge or two along the way. I have had the pleasure of collaborating with her on Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning before so connecting again has been great. So today I was inspired to create a remix of 106 lines of thought.
Here is my remix:
Collaborating on the 106 Lines of Thought poem with such fabulous people was so much fun. Here is the original.
A bird, flying though the sky
2 Cuts through dark clouds
3 Circling on wind drifts
4 Your mind shifts to stars
5 Whose silver wings shimmer and shiver. And fade.
6 Cutting into thin air, exhilarating, hard to breath,
7 as you swim through the sun flooded blue
8 ignoring the green duckweed trying to get into your nostrils.
9 focusing on turquoise skies: the other side
10 until, until, there. You break through and for a moment,
11 you forget. (Go to line 106 option)
12 The dark clouds that touched your wings yesterday. Now replaced by light.
13 Invisibly lifted, you soar higher.
14 Higher and higher until you fear Icarus’ fate.
15 Looking down, you notice gratitude growing within you,
16 warming your bones just like the Sun’s rays.
17 wrapping wings of hope around the earth
18 observing the moment pass.
19 You glide, introspective,
20 Into a brighter light,
21 illuminating from deep within,
22 sparking something deep inside of you,
23 that reaches out to others
24 even animal friends, companions
25 share your brilliance
26 alive, living in the moment.
27 noticing the small things
28 celebrating the small things, because these give us all hope.
29 a child’s smile, a cat’s paw, a snowdrop peeking through the snow
30 a carousel of animated memories that light up receptors of gratitude
31 and trigger fond memories
32 captured, like snapshots, to browse through
33 a force keeping the dark clouds at bay
34 and allowing our inner strength to shine through
Here is a link to one of the remixes of the the poem . There are so many ways to remix. You can try some here in the poetry remix matrix.
You may be inspired to remix one day soon and if you do you might connect with some inspiring people and create a state of flow for yourself which is definitely good for your mental health. Have fun!
Counsellor Talk : Creative Collaborative Connections 