Group Hugs
Nothing beats a good hug. From your grandmother/father, mom/dad, your husband/wife, your sister, brother, best friend, child. And when groups get together for club or team events, family reunions, getaway vacations, or weddings, a few things become inevitable. You'll eat too much. Laugh a lot. Take a group photo. And hug.
If you're lucky, you'll find yourself embraced in a group hug, armed locked, joy and silliness sprouting up all around you. Family, friend, or other bonds bring you close together. Hugs are greetings and goodbyes: physical symbols of those bonds between us. They remind us that, despite our temporal existence, we're all in this together. Hugs are good.
I was browsing around Technorati today and saw this free hug campaign video on YouTube. It's worth viewing... the whole video is quite funny, and poignant. In an urban area, a man with a sign saying "free hugs" looks like a freak, but by his simple and persistent act of love, winds up drawing crowds and a growing number of hugs from others, including group hugs. Sound ridiculous? See for yourself. Then turn around and hug the person to your left. You're sure to extract a smile, from both of you. :-)