‘All You Need is Love Like Mr. Barnes’

January 19, 2011

220px-JohnnyBarnesStatueWhat the world needs now is unconditional love — just like the kind Bermuda’s Johnny Barnes dispenses to Hamilton communters every morning, according to an American life coach.

Writing at the “Huffington Post” about ongoing fall-out from the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, life coach, writer and lecturer Arjuna Ardagh says Bermuda’s Mr. Barnes provides an example of selflessness to the world.

Mr. Ardagh said he recently read a profile of Mr. Barnes in author Marci Shimoff’s newly published book “Love For No Reason.”

“It got my unconditional love mojo going again, with dozens of compelling reasons to live as love now, regardless of circumstance, relationship status, the shape of your body, or any of the other reasons we give ourselves to postpone throwing the gates of the fortress wide open and declaring Open House,” said Mr. Ardagh.

Although the book spotlights such internationally renowned ”love luminaries”  as Marianne Williamson and Melissa Etheridge, Mr. Ardagh said his ”favourite was the story of Johnny Barnes, a native of Bermuda.”

“The impulse came to him, out of the blue, to start waving to people, calling out ‘I love you’,” said Mr. Ardagh .”He liked it so much, he started to do this every day during his lunch hour.”

“Now Johnny is 84 years old. He gets up at 3:30 am every day to stand on the Crow Lane roundabout in busy downtown Hamilton till 10 am, calling out ‘Good Morning. Have a Good Day. God Bless you’!”

Mr. Barnes is quoted in Ms Shimoff’s book as saying: “God gives us all something to do. If you can bring joy and happiness to others, you keep on doing it. “People seem to like my staying power. I just keep showing up day after day, and year after year — they kind of count on it now.

“In fact, not long ago the city actually put up a statue of me, wide-brimmed hat and all, doing my two-handed wave! I never thought I’d see a statue of myself. Never. But there it is — a life-sized bronze sculpture that stands on the opposite side of the roundabout from me. It keeps on spreading love after I go home.”

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  1. itwasn't me says:

    there is hope for humanity….just drive by crow lane between 3am – 9:30am any given week day to see for yourself.