First of all… Who did this?

Someone in a marketing agency somewhere decided that January 21 should be a World Hug Day. I frostily question the logic! This week of all weeks – the fourth week after Christmas, inches from a desperately-needed payday, and aeons from seeing a grand stretch in our evenings – is not the time for this.

And this year in particular a Hug Day hits an odd note, to acknowledge the giant wheezing elephant in the room. As we wait with cautious optimism for Covid to officially evacuate our lives, we do contemplate whether physical gestures of affection to friends and colleagues – handshakes, hugs – will ever come back. For some of us, we don’t want them to. For others, the thrill of throwing an arm around a randomer would mean so much. It would signal the end of two very lonely years. It would feel something close to normal. And it would give us a chance to communicate our feelings without having to loudly enunciate them through a filmy muffling mask.

We have been conditioned to hesitate before embracing, to pause before reaching outwards. We are guarded about more than just our personal space – the very air we breathe we now watch over carefully, subconsciously ringfencing our invisible breathing bubbles.

But its Hug Day – so can we get down to it?

Well, it’s actually good for you

According to the scientists, who instead of doing something useful seem to spend their time on stuff like this, the benefits of hugging go far beyond reducing stress. The smarties say that hugging regularly might reduce your chances of getting sick, improve your heart health, and even reduce pain levels. This is probably because of the good hormone oxytocin that gets released when we hug people. Aw!

Not a hugger?

You, like, don’t HAVE to, though. As someone whose love language is physical touch, I am in favour of a cuddle. World Hug Day is music to my Care Bear ears. I guess I’m just really warm, fun, easygoing, and nice you know? But not everyone is as perfect.

Many of my friends’, siblings’ and loved ones’ shoulders shoot upwards to their ears if I approach for a snuggle and I don’t blame them. Not everyone shows affection in that manner. Some prefer leaving an ‘x’ at the end of their texts, or offering a lift to save a friend having to get a taxi. That’s love. It’s also maybe an Irish thing to keep your distance. A kiss on the hand might be quite continental, but a static wave does the trick for our standoffish island-inhabitants. We like to keep a sea between us and that carry-on.

Speaking of kissing

As well as a World Hug Day, it turns out that there’s an International Kissing Day to boot. Once upon a time, Dr Andy Cope, happiness expert, advised on thegloss.ie that kissing is also great for you, according to philematology (the science of kissing!). Another kissing word is “philemaphobic”, a person with a fear of kissing. With the reopening of Dublin nightclubs in the offing, spare a thought for the philemaphobes. Maybe try an elbow-bump next time you’re hauled to Coppers. Mwah!

 Follow us on Instagram @theglossmag.