Free Hugs

Today was HILARIOUS!

I was invited to participate in a ‘free hugs campaign’ in the Queen Street Mall along with four other people. We agreed to stay for an hour and offer hugs freely as a ‘random act of kindness’.

It was beautiful and within a few minutes we had several other people join us. There was quickly close to 30 or 40 people offering hugs.

Within about 15 minutes however a representative from the local Council was asking us to move on. I refused and within another 15 minutes another representative asked me to move on and again I refused. A media crew rocked up and the whole thing turned into a mad frenzy of hugging vs. bureaucracy.

Eventually the Council managed to convince a police officer to get involved and we told we had to move on, or else. So we moved on slowly up the mall, hugging people as we went until we got to the top of the mall, apparently out of jurisdiction of the pedantic Council officials. There we stayed for an extra hour than planned.

Tourists loved us, we hugged them and the world was a little better.

The end.

k

Mayfest

Giselle's four favourite occasions in the year are Mayfest, Paniyiri, her birthday and Christmas.

Yet this year, the one year I needed Giselle to actually come to Mayfest, she didn't.

Mayfest is the annual fete for MacGregor State Primary School and the main fundraising event for the MacGregor SPS Parents and Citizens Committee of which I am the Secretary (random occurrence). As a result, I was put in charge of the White Elephant (Trash and Treasure Stall). I was told that this is the most fun stall, which leaves me questioning why no one else wanted to run it, and was warned that there were plenty of 'interesting' characters that came to the stall (particularly in the morning when morning madness hit and everyone wanted to be first in to get the best stuff).

I must admit, it was pretty fun. We managed to sell nearly two full rooms of junk, I mean, treasure, and I was able to report a small fortune to the P&C committee.

The pic is of my favourite item from the stall which I self sacrificially left on the table for a very lucky lady to purchase for 50 cents (down from $3).

I also now have an even greater appreciation for not hoarding and not being in a relationship with a hoarder. Good for me.

k

Fear.

Isn't strange how you can think you have dealt with something, have really sorted through the emotional landslide to survive, move on and rebuild, and then a trigger occurs, out of the blue, and throws you immediately back under the wreckage.

It is a terrifying place to be, to wonder if you can survive and rebuild again. Beyond fearing the flashback, you can begin to realise that you found the way out once before, and you will do it again. But fear, fear is what holds us back.

I know it is so cliché. But it is so cliché because it is so true.

A few weeks ago I was walking behind some students at uni who were talking about a five year old kid they know and how he has no problem doing anything and they were wondering when they stopped doing anything. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that as a young child you have little grasp of what there is to loose. Because there is no knowledge of what there is to loose, only to gain, there is no fear. With no fear, there is nothing holding you back and you jump at every opportunity and throw yourself in.

Without fear holding us back, is there any reason not to experience it all?

k