VICTORIA – Rita and Melinda are saying good-bye at the ferry terminal, offering each other air-hugs across the fence. They originally met through social media. Last month, Melinda messaged Rita to say she was doing a road trip.

'[She said] I'm making one stop in Canada and I want to hug you!" Rita recalls.

Melinda travelled from Atlanta to Victoria to meet Rita in person for the first time last night. They hugged, talked, and now, less than 24-hours later, Melinda is leaving. Rita is renewed.

"I was reminded who I am," Rita explains with a smile. "And that feels good."

You see, Rita first earned international attention eight years ago when she tried to inspire strangers to stop staring at their screens and start connecting with each other.

"I decided I was just going to connect with somebody new every day," Rita explains. "Hear a little bit of their story and hug them."

Rita called it 'The Year of Hugging Fearlessly' and documented her embraces on Facebook.

"I ended up hugging 1,500 people in 365 days!"

She shows me pictures from that period. They feature Rita embracing smiling people of all ages who are holding numbers showing what day of the year it is. Rita says it was a year filled with lots of joy, no sickness, and – after hugging strangers from countless backgrounds across five countries – a realization that we all share a common yearning.

"What I learned Is that people just want to be known," Rita said.

But – the thing was – Rita wasn't allowing herself to be known.

"I was hiding out in plain sight," Rita explains. "It was constant in my head, 'I don't want to be seen.'"

She didn’t want anybody to see those aspects of ourselves we hide away in the shadows out of shame.

"I'm kind of a loser," Rita says she told herself. "'What do I have to be thankful for?' I was feeling depressed. I was eating crap. And none of it was working. So I made a choice."

Rita made a choice – for the first time – to hug herself.

Rita committed to doing the courageous work of learning to love all aspects of herself. Almost two years later, she's lost 140 pounds and found a new perspective on hugging. "I've noticed – since I haven't been doing it on a regular basis – I forgot who I am," she says.

Then Melinda showed up and reminded her of how powerful a hug can be. Now, Rita – more authentically empowered than ever – is feeling inspired to figure out the next thing she'll do to make the world a better place.

"I think my purpose in this world is to love people," she says with a smile. "And it feels good to be reminded."