Meet the writers: Edie Weinstein
Edie grew up in Willingboro, N.J., but spent so much time in Doylestown that she considers it her home. She moved to New Britain in 1985 and now lives in Dublin. She has been writing the “Kindness Korner” in The Doylestown Cardinal for two years. Every story she writes is moving, warm, and filled with Kindness. Get to know Edie a bit more in our Q&A below.
Q: Where is your favorite spot to grab coffee in Bucks County?
A: I used to love going to the Zen Den, but now that it is closed, I don't have a particular place to visit.
Q: What is something you love about Doylestown?
A: It feels like Cheers, where “everybody knows your name.” I usually run into folks I know when I am here.
Q. What is your favorite memory in Doylestown?
A: Doing my Free Hugs strolls. On Valentine's Day weekend of 2014, I brought a group of friends to 30th Street Station for a Free Hugs flashmob. In the hour that 12 of us were there, we hugged about 200 people. The hugs needed to be given by consent and if someone said no, we thanked them and moved on to ask other people if they wanted hugs.
One person who approached us was an Iraq War vet who said that he was the only survivor of his platoon, and he had survivor's guilt. He thought about ending his life, "until I met you people. You give me hope." He asked if he could join us. So, with tears trickling down, we gave him his own “Free Hugs” sign, and he was off to the races, hugging his heart out. My thought was, "Hugs save lives."
A few months later, I realized how true that was. On June 12, on the way home from the gym, at the age of 55, I had a heart attack. As part of my cardiac rehab, I walked around Doylestown. I had the thought of combining hugging with walking. Friends started calling us “Hugmobsters,” and I added the tagline, 'armed with love,' to counteract the image of the mafia, guns, and violence. The name stuck.
Now, 11 years later, we have hugged thousands of people. I have hugged throughout the country, in Canada, and in 2018, hugged my way through Ireland. Sometimes I do it myself, and sometimes with friends. I also offer Free Mom Hugs at Pride Fests. See more info at opti-mystical.com/hugmobsters
Q: It's a warm, 70-degree summer day. Where are you spending it?
A: Outside of Evolution Candy with a small scoop of Graham Slam ice cream, watching people go by.
Q: Do you have any hobbies? If so, why that one?
A: I love to read. Hobby? Vocation? Both. I used to carry books around with me like they were teddy bears when I was a child. Now I am a book author and journalist. My book is called The Bliss Mistress Guide to Transforming the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary. It includes slice-of-life stories, as well as an interview that I did with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2008. The book is available on Amazon.
Q: We heard you gave a TED talk. Tell us more.
A:
My TEDx talk is called Overcoming the Taboo of Touch which focuses on the importance of safe, nurturing, platonic touch, by consent. The idea came from a project I did while in grad school in 1985, and expanded to include the Hugmobsters stories I have accumulated along the way. Humans are hardwired for touch, and we have skin hunger that is just as important to meet as food hunger. Without it, we fail to thrive.
The talk was a bucket list item that I checked off on October 1, 2022. I had planted the seeds years earlier after watching a TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert. Hers was on the topic of creativity. I am a firm believer in manifesting our heart's desires. With that in mind, I found a coach named Cesar Cervantes who had a reputation for helping people craft TED talks and working with them to apply and be accepted to various stages throughout the world. Mine was in Lima, Ohio. It was exciting and frightening all at once. I have been a public speaker since the 1980s, but a TEDx talk is different. It is not spontaneous and improvised. It is scripted but presented as if it were not. I needed to memorize what was essentially a 17-minute monologue. With the help of family and friends, Cesar and the coaches, as well as the other speakers from the Faurot Park stage, I was able to make it through. Watch Edie’s TED talk.
Q: Describe Bucks County in one word.
A: Community.