A Big Update on Pretty Much Everything

Hi everybody! So sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been very busy with a ton of different projects. First of all, in case you haven't visited in awhile, the Hugs Heal Myspace has been completely re-designed! It now has a sleeker, easier-to-navigate layout for everyone to enjoy.

Now, I have moved on to redoing the entire Hugs Heal Shop. Soon, we will have HUNDREDS of new products with updated designs in a rainbow of colors that you will be able to edit yourself! I am very excited about these changes, and I hope that you will be too!

After the Shop is finished, I plan to open a Hugs Heal Facebook Group! I hope that this expansion with spread the Hugs Heal Message further and further, and that it will help me to promote the Hugs Heal Shop.

To update everyone on my current non-Hugs Heal project, I am working on a new website where I will be displaying various pieces of my paintings. Once the website is up and running, I am hoping to begin working at a local street faire to showcase and sell my work (unbelievably excited AND nervous about this!) I also plan to take custom orders for people who have items that they would like me to paint. I promise that when I've finished setting up the website, I'll share it with you guys here at Hugs Heal. The artwork showcased on the new site will be entirely different than anything I've ever done before.

On April 16, I will be participating in my first-ever SketchCrawl, which is an event that involves a whole bunch of people getting together, walking around, and drawing everything they see. This particular event will be doubling as a fundraiser for disaster relief efforts in Japan. For more information, please read the article on my other website, Gini's Magic.

Support a Great Cause and Get Your Creative Juices Flowing By Participating in a SketchCrawl!

****IMPORTANT NOTE****

After the Hugs Heal Shop renovations are completed, I will be looking for volunteers to help with spreading the Hugs Heal message. I will need people to send out friend requests on both Myspace and Facebook, and post bulletins and messages (I will write everything myself, I just need help posting it).

If you are interested in helping out with any of this, even you can only do a little bit, PLEASE CONTACT ME! Every bit of help, helps.

Hug it Out!

Erica and Cody, age 3
Thanks to Debbie for sharing this adorable photo at the Hugs Heal Online Community!

A Fellow Hugger Shares "Free Hugs" Experience

The experience and photos below were shared by Angel, a friend of Hugs Heal. The words in Purple are hers, the words in Black are mine.

"Our first Free Hugs that we participated in we did on 7-7-07. It was significant as people from all over the world were doing it at the same time with the same purpose. Peace, Love & Happiness. We were surrounded by Angels that day and we could all feel them. We got quite the surprise when we got our group pictures - one of the Angel's decided to join in them. In both group pictures if you look at the purple hue you will see its face. First one is looking straight at the camera, the second one its turned facing us. What difference does giving a hug make? Well if we have gotten the attention of Angels then I would say it means a lot!! Love & Hugs, Angel"

While I try to keep Hugs Heal non-religious to make sure everyone of every religion feel welcome, I felt that this experience was too cool not to share. What do you guys think? Can you see the angels' face in the purple hue?

A Hug That Touched the Soul

"When my mother died at home from terminal cancer, all the people started coming in to pay their respects, plenty of hugging, but the only one that I felt down to my soul was the one from my favorite uncle, he got out of his car, didn't say a word, just opened his arms, and I fell into them sobbing, he never said anything, he knew how close I was to my mom, he just held me as hard as he could, and let me cry. Made me feel better and safe."

Shared by Akiko

The Three Acts of Kindess Challenge

Repost:
Hello, my wonderful friends! Today I am issuing you a new challenge. It will cost you nothing but your time (unless you choose otherwise) and I guarantee it will make you feel wonderful.

The day after you read this blog entry, I challenge you to do 3 kind things for someone other than yourself. I can be 3 acts of kindness for one person or one act for 3 different people.

These acts can be anything you choose. As long as you don't stay in bed all day, I guarantee you that plenty of opportunities will arise. You just need to pay attention.

Here are some ideas:
1. Give a gift card to a homeless person (or anyone who needs it)
2. Give a hug to someone who looks sad
3. Help someone carry their groceries out to their car
4. Take a friend out to their favorite restaurant
5. Tip your babysitter or pizza delivery person twice as much as you normally would
6. Take your spouse to the local park and have some ice cream together (or hot chocolate, depending on the weather)

Don't forget to come back here and tell me what you decided to do for your three acts of kindness, or post some of your ideas for other people to do. I'll choose some of my favorites to be featured in my blog!