My New Idea

Mmmkay, so....I have had a new idea. Well it isn't a new idea it is more like an evolution of a pre-existing idea. I am going to share it with you peeps and see what the feed back is before I start publishing anything. But first lets back up and talk about how this idea got started.

So where to begin? Well lets start here. In my life I have had some pretty awesome experiences with some pretty random people. As you are all aware of I love a good story and I have collected a sweet Rolodex of stories from my adventures and regular life. Thanks to my father I have the artistic flare of telling stories that can keep your entertained. That coupled with the fact that family has some crazy unbelieveable aura around them creates opportunity for great stories. I also believe that everyone has a story. Even if you think it is nothing special, everyone has a story to tell. I am a people watcher, and a people talker. I love human behaviour. Some of my most memorable random encounter stories are; The time I got a ride home with a snow plow driver on the new years eve we had the blizzard. The time I learned how to walk backwards from a ninja. The time I met the 1985 Iditarod champion in the New York airport. The time I got a ride to the Tuahara mountain with a Maori cowboy that went to Stampede. The time (just recently) I got a ride home from a van full of Samoans and went to McDicks with them. I have also had uncomfortable encounters of the random kind like the time on Quinpool when the guy wanted to stab me at the bus stop..... But on a whole I think the interactions I have had with random people and the kindness of others is what keeps my faith in humanity. I actually really love talking to strangers and truth be told I do it all the time. How else are you going to meet new people!? I think this is why being a traveller suits me so well because I don't know if I have a shy bone in my body.

In today's day and age everyone is so busy txting and messaging and have their heads down to notice the people around them. People pass by others on the street without a second glance. How many people did you walk past today that you didn't even notice? Also the kindness of strangers is becoming a dying thing and people raise an eyebrow when you walk down the road smiling. When did it become strange to smile? Ya'll know that I am a pretty icy person, but I do believe in spreading happiness and think the world would be a better place if we just slowed down a bit and smiled more often. If we all just acted a little kinder to the person standing next to us maybe some of the worlds problems would lessen.

This comes to the last part, and the part that really kicked off the idea of this new idea. How many have walked past a homeless person on the street without even acknowledging them? How many of you know why that guy you just walked past and rolled your eyes at is actually homeless? I know we all make assumptions, but how many times are we right? We don't know how many times we are right, because no one ever takes the time to find out. For the peeps in Halifax, how many of you know the story of how the rose guy started selling roses? Wouldn't it be interesting if you did know? Wouldn't it be a neat idea if you could hear the stories of all these strangers you see in the run of a day? I was inspired by the 'Stranger a day' blog from Vancouver. This woman did a project where she had to speak to a stranger a day for a year, then she blogged about it. I remember reading her stories and thinking, " Wow, what a neat idea! What a cool way to learn something new about someone you just met. " I was inspired to start talking to strangers myself, I mean hell, you never know who you are going to meet. Since I have been in NZ I have met two millionaires, TV personnel, NZ politicians, professional rugby players, the Springboks, and countless other interesting people with stories to tell. The stranger a day girl used tattoos as base for her project so each participant told a story about a tattoo they had. It was so interesting reading the stories of how they came about or what they meant to the person.

After being inspired by the blog I took it upon myself to not dismiss those around me and actually start talking to people. Maybe bring the world a little closer together? Maybe learn something? Maybe just have a good laugh? Either which way it has become something I find incredibly interesting and I have decided to maybe share the stories of my interactions with all of you. So this is how it would go, I would keep this blog but start a new one too. The new one would be called "These Are The People In Your Neighborhood" and it would be a compilation of stories from the people I talk to and meet and hear their stories. So it wouldn't be my stories, but theirs, shared on this public forum for all to read. What do you think?

Now obviously when I talk to strangers and hear their stories I stay clear of aggressive behaviours, Jesus freaks, and generally anyone talking to themselves, so I am being safe and the stories I hear aren't always a mess of crazy. Although sometimes they are, and that's okay, because obviously that is what that person perceives is real and I find it fascinating to hear that too. But sometimes their stories are cautionary tales, or amazing stories of triumph, you just never know what you will hear when you talk to strangers. Anyways shout me some feedback on what you think, and I think I will be doing a test run on this idea with a story about an interaction I had the other day with a man selling shells on Queen street. I also am starting a pass it on movement with one of the shells I bought off of that same guy.

So, would you read it? What do you think? Maybe I am as crazy as the people I talk to?