Open Up a Little, Hugs For Everyone

Do we keep to ourselves a bit too much sometimes? Is there an advantage to displacing our tunnel vision mentality when it comes to dealing with the 'would be friends' (or daily strangers, depending on how you look at it,) who surround us? Many of us have this mentality, most easily observed in big cities, that we do our thing, stick to ourselves and everything will be alright. I understand the value of alone time, I like to reflect, it's like sleeping after a day of hard thinking, all your good ideas incubate. But I feel like there's some unspoken aversion to being publicly social.

God Grew Tired of Us was an interesting documentary about the Lost Boys of Sudan who endured harsh persecution followed by a 1,000 mile relocation trek to escape death and then 10 years away from anyone they knew. The film is about the experiences the boys have when they are given the opportunity to relocate to the US. Most fascinating was their observation of the way Americans treat their neighbors. They're surprised to see people ignore one another on the streets and walk straight past people who are crying in a public place. This stood out because these men from Sudan had an objective perspective of our culture and this kind of social behavior really struck them as odd; so I wondered a bit more about why this behavior of walking around with blinders on in our own little bubble has become normal.

The WSJ recently wrote an article about how men will avoid a lost child in a mall for fear of being labeled a predator. I just watched the High Fives video which again gave me the sense that people don't seek contact with strangers and will simply avoid it if approached.

High Five video


This attitude contrasts some other films where people are reluctant but eventually embrace the idea that public behavior might have some benefits and it isn't that bad to engage strangers.

Free Hugs Video



and Dave Mathew's Everyday video


These examples are an inspiration but certainly exhibit behavior that most people would choose to avoid.
After watching God Grew Tired Of Us I realized how our culture really encourages people to keep to themselves in public and couldn't help to think how our daily lives would be improved if we made the extra effort to be a little more open.