Hug in a Mug

Ava Hollen is an irrepressible teenager from Linden. She speaks, writes and creates with an exuberant personality.

Her high school teachers have already told her she writes and expresses herself as if she were a college student.

Recently Ava’s teachers suggested the students come up with some suggestion of how to bring people together, something of community service.

“How to overcome bad feelings, maybe not be so divided but instead be together,” said Ava, who is 16 years old and homeschooled.

She had an idea. Why not find a way to give anonymous compliments?

“Anonymous affirmations” were her words. She calls it a“Hug in a Mug” and says it is a heart warming opportunity.

Here’s how it works. You’ll need a mug, plastic bags, sheets of paper, pens and this sign explanation, “Take an affirmation and leave one behind. Let’s warm some hearts this season with this project.”

To set up, take a number of blank strips of paper and put them in a plastic bag along with a number of pens. Write several of your own affirmations to be anonymous and place the strips — now hugs — into the mug. Do this with several affirmations, and you will have now completed the “hug in a mug” set up.

What will happen is that someone will come by, take out an anonymous affirmation from the mug and then write one of their own to put back into the mug.

“Who knows who will come by, receive their magic affirmation and replace with their own for someone else,” Ava said.

Ava designed all her materials and then took the idea to Denise Haas of the Linden Public Library. The librarian warmed to the idea and placed the project in the middle of a central table in the reading room.

“I think it’s wonderful. Everyone needs an affirmation. I’m tickled to have it on display.” Haas said.

The library was Ava’s first stop for this project and may be the only one. What is likely to happen is that someone may take a hug from the mug, replace it with one of their own and then tell others or set up their own hug in a mug project.

Some of the affirmations have said such things as “Be confident in yourself.” “Mistakes don’t define you.” “I believe in you.” and “You are a light to those around you.”

It’s simple to see how such project brings a benefit. Ava, with her advanced skills, adds one more thought, “Maybe it will warm the heart of someone with a ‘seasonal affective disorder’.

She took a moment to explain. “That’s feeling blue in the fall or in a time without sunlight,” said the irrepressible sophomore.

There’s one more story to tell. An affirmation for her.

On a fall Friday night last season at a Linden-Kildare football game, players and fans of both sides stood as the national anthem was announced. The crowd quietened,

challenging “Star Spangled Banner.”

Likely the music might have been recorded or perhaps sung strangely. The Tiger Band could have played it in partial support of both teams. But for a long moment, no noise was heard. Again the crowd quietened.

Then, a flute sounded over the speaker system. By itself. The sweet, smooth, familiar tune was being well played. It might have been a devotional.

When it ended, again no one clapped or yelled.

The occasion had been blessed. The flute solo had been played by Ava. She was at the time a freshman member of the Tiger band. One couldn’t see her in the press box, but she certainly was heard.

“Let music be part of your life and share it with others ” Ava’s hug-in-a-mug paper slip might have said this night.