07 - 08, 2004

Lead with your heart and success will follow!
After 2 days off I headed Downtown to share my hugs with the business set. As I mentioned last week they are a really tough sell, but I sense that if I go regularly they will warm up to the idea. It is a worthy challenge both creatively and personally.

I read the web log of a young woman who had hugged me and this is what I was inspired to post as a reply.

‘Everyday life offers up opportunities for us to discover more about who we really are, more then meets our tinted eye. It was a delight to read your personal comments about our shared experience. Unique, simple and true, as every moment in a day could be. If only we stopped thinking about doing and just did what our heart inspires us to do. Ahhh! What a wonder we are, we humans, we beings of God, we children of the Earth. We who are lost in our thoughts, drowning in sorrow of our forgotten dreams and borrowed hopes, how we search and yearn for answers to fulfill the gospel of our beliefs when all there is, is our might little hearts. It is there that all the answers, the wisdom, the comfort, the laughter, the strength, the faith, the love that we need to sustain us during our journey in this life resides.

Many years ago life was stolen from me and in that moment of surrender I found my peace, my understanding, my comfort in the knowledge that there is nothing worth appreciating more then this very day, there is nothing worth embracing more then this very moment for that is all there really is, it is all we really have that we can call our own. This moment is so vibrant, so , oh so tender, so colorful in all it’s hues and tints. Like a sculptor hands molding the moistened earth into an inspired glance of being we use our very being to mold the beauty of our becoming.’

My fist self imposed day off that was not weather related. It was time to treat myself to a bit of relaxation and spend some time enjoying a sunny summer day before fall sets in.

Stop for a moment and celebrate your humanity!

I went to ply my tender wares in the center of downtown Montreal for the first time today. The business lunch crowd are a tough sell. Many passed by me, a look of curiousity immerged at the site of this curiously still, 20th century man, but surprise even bewilderment crossed many a face before a smile set in. This stress ridden, pressed for time crowd seemed to relish my proposition but as yet they could only offer up an appreciative smile. They flowed by me weaving and twirling like schools of fish caught in their own currents. There I stood a rock of stillness in these turbulent waters waiting silently arms out stretched, with a warm smile inviting these hurrying people to slow down and enjoy a moment of respite in my embrace.Though there are not many who can for hugs I have faith that this is the right spot for me at this time. Time is what it will take and I have the patience to win them over.

I will be filming some of The Hugger Busker on Labor Day weekend in Old Montreal. I am excited to finally put this on video. I will be tapuing the action and interviews with passer bys and those who come for hugs. I just hope that there are enough people who want top participate with the camera rolling.

Celebrate the beauty of this day by sharing your love!

At the end of the day I changed my message to express what I felt.

Your fear of loving strangers promotes hatred in the world!

It has been a very odd day. It was another glorious day, sunny and hot. But very few people seemed interested in celebrating anything let alone love. I tried all kinds of approaches to invite people to accept a hug but no, they were content just looking at me and my chalkboards. I know by most people’s reactions that they loved my concept of sharing love but just not with them. So I ended up leaving earlier then usual because I felt dejected and was a little disappointed in my day. I was not in the mood to hug anyone anymore.

On my way home I walked by an outdoor café where two couples from Ontario who had seen me earlier in the day invited me to join them for a drink. I accepted their kind offer. The conversation was cheerful and lively. After my ginger ale I bid them fair well with some heartfelt hugs and headed home my spirits lifted by the delightful humor of these lovely, kind hearted people. It does not take much to make me happy and feeling appreciated certainly helps. We all need to feel appreciated so next time you cross paths with someone you care about tell them. It will make their day.

Sunshine may brighten your day, but a heartfelt hug will brighten your life!

It was a beautiful day sunny and cool. I started early and was in fine spirits. I began my day with a prayer followed by meditation. I decided to chant quietly for the first few hours. Chanting really grounds me and puts me at peace with myself, allowing me to reconnect with my loving nature. The result is that what I offer others becomes more heartfelt and genuine. I have noticed that when I don’t begin my day by connecting to the spirit within, my emotional state becomes more vulnerable to outside influences and I tend to react to things with my ego rather then my heart. My ego self is at times snarky, impatient and intolerant of those who are judgmental and egocentric. These are personal traits that I am constantly striving to transform. Everyday we are offered many opportunities in which to transform our shadow self and evolve into more balanced, loving and enlightened individuals.

Love today and let tomorrow become!

I began late in the afternoon. I was in very good spirits but for some reason very few people seemed to be receptive to my proposition so my mood changed and I got a little down. When this happens I don’t take kindly to people who take from me, but don’t offer anything in exchange. I reacted rather testily to group of young tourists who attempted to take photos of me and then with me with out asking me or even involving me. What really got to me is that they wanted nothing to do with me or my hugs. I was as if I was an inanimate object, a real statue.

I don’t like it when people try to serreptiously get beside or behind me to sneak a photo with me. Sometimes it down right angers me because I find it rude and blatantly disrespectful of me as a person and an artist. I work hard to do what I do and I never refuse someone who asks to take a photo of me or to pose with me, though I do appreciate it if they either hugged me in return or left some coins in my donation tin. Everyday I get more then a few people who want to take pictures or videos and offer nothing in return. In fact these same people are offended when I tell them that they have no right to take photos of me with out asking. They don’t seem to understand that it is my art, my creation, my work and that even though I practice my art in public I am not public property.

Just about the time that I was considering packing it in two young men from Toronto, who will be studying the theatre arts at McGill University came by to look at what I was doing. I noticed them watching and told them that though I usually gave hug this was a time when I really need to receive one. They both graciously gave me some really heart warming hugs. After they left I realized that my sprits had been lifted by their presence. I am grateful for those who bring light into my day when darkness threatens to envelope me. I am grateful to God for always sending me comforting souls, messengers or guides when I need them most.

Sharing your love will bring sunshine into your life!

On several occasion I have written about being offended or even hurt by those who have brushed off or ignored me and my proposal. A positive change has taken place in my approach to those who refuse my offer or those who have dismissive comments or attitudes towards me. My level of acceptance of has grown and I am much more compassionate to others. This change took place earlier in the week. At one point in my day there were several hours where those passing would just ignore me so I found myself standing in stillness for longer periods of time then usual. When this happens I usually go into a meditative state where I become totally aware of my inner and outer world. My physical self tends to melt into the flow life around me. The sounds, the smells the breath, the sensations on me and in me all meld together so that I no longer differentiate between then. My being becomes all that surrounds me as my surrounding becomes me. Unless you have experienced this it is hard to describe accurately let alone imagine.

There I stood in silent stillness in this state of interconnectedness, of interbeing. As I watched the flow of people go by I began to recognize myself in each and every one them. I could see my sad self, my fearful self, my angry self, my hurt self, my cheerful self, my preoccupied self, my egotistic self, my macho self, my exuberant self, my distracted self, my anxious self, my playful self and on and on reflection of my selves passed by me.

The first step to loving one’s self is to accept one’s self totally, unconditionally, with out judgment. It is then clear then that the first step to loving others is to accept them as they are, totally, unconditionally, with out judgment. It does not mean that I have to like another person’s behavior or life choices, but rather that I can be and must be compassionate towards their human nature, their human suffering, their human struggle for it is my nature, my suffering, my struggle as well. I can now approach those who struggle with share affection and tenderness with gentleness and understanding rather them criticism and judgment as I had in the past. I am grateful to God for opening my mind, my being to this profound insight. I pray that I have the wisdom to honor this gift.