When Hugging Becomes an Act of Resistance

Last week, a good friend of mine who is single and lives in the city said to me on the phone, “I’ve got a date tonight. I’m done with Covid. I can’t take it anymore. I need hugs! I need cuddles!”

I couldn’t blame her. These past two months, I’ve thought about what it must have been like for all those single people living alone. Devoid not only of human contact, but of intimate, physical contact, a critical part of any human being’s mental, emotional and physical health.

I never thought we’d reach this point in our world, but it seems like we have: hugging another person has become an act of resistance, but it also represents so much more.

When I hug you, I declare loud and clear that:

• I refuse to live in fear.
• I refuse to mortgage our children’s present for an unknown future.
• I categorically reject the “new normal.”
• I reject the attack on our civil liberties in the name of “flattening” a questionable curve.
• I embrace critical thinking, open discussion, and refuse to be manipulated by the “unchallengeable” narrative of the mainstream media surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
• I reject the patriarchal attitudes of government and the medical establishment.
• I believe people should have responsibility for their own health choices.
• I believe in the integrity of the human immune system.
• I believe in the miraculous and immense healing powers of the human “terrain.”
• I embrace individual liberty and informed consent.
• I refuse to see you, anyone or anything else as separate from myself.
• I reject trying to control and exploit human beings.
• I do not believe that the world is flat.
• I reject having my beliefs chosen for me by Big Tech, Big Pharma, and other transnational organizations.
• I do not believe there is a “boogie-man” virus waiting to attack, invade, and kill millions of people.
• I believe the vast majority of us have already been exposed to the virus, and that the vast majority of those people are either asymptomatic or display mild symptoms from it.
• I believe quarantines, social distancing, and wearing masks and gloves WILL NOT protect humans from disease, nor will it “flatten the curve.” Let us quarantine the sick and free the healthy.
• I believe our species has lived in harmony with viruses for thousands of years, and we will continue living in harmony with them, unless we destroy our planet and the environment first.
• I believe death is part of life…it is the final destination for us all. We never know when we will breathe our last breath. I hug you now because I don’t really know if I will ever get another chance.
• I would rather live free or die.

Palestinians living in Occupied Palestine under Israeli military rule say that their existence is resistance. For the rest of us, hugging is resistance. Resistance to tyranny and censorship. Resistance to profits over people. Resistance to living under the threat of medical martial law. Resistance to fear.

Hugging is an ode to life. A call to reclaim faith and preserve humanity. A restoration of love.

Hug someone you love today. That is all the immunity you’ll ever need.