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yes, this is primarily for the purposes of well, reading, BUT..
i will say in the last couple of years nearly every time i am doing this out in the city an older person, between 70-90, will stop me to ask what i’m reading. often followed by a comment of “young people just don’t read out and about anymore”. this simple and sweet interaction has led to some of the most wonderful (sometimes hours long) conversations with folks who simply want to talk. about your book but then your life and interests and then their life, some incredible things they have done and pass on some of their beautiful life stories and sage advice.
i never feel more connected to humanity than in these happenstance conversations, learning new things about the world through the lens of someone who i likely would have never otherwise met.
i have managed to keep in touch with a few of these folks i’ve met through the years and it is one of my biggest sources of joy. and occasionally snap a portrait of them too, meet Dion, 84, from San Francisco here 💗
Apr 23, 2024
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over the past two years i’ve gotten quite good at speaking to new people, and in the past six months i’ve made it one of my favorite traits. i tell people i love their hair when i’m behind them at line at the shops. i befriended an older lady on the train home from work, we laughed and exchanged stories on the crowded rush hour car. i built a relationship with the lady at sandwich place near my work, to the point where she calls out my nickname (veggie melt) when i walk in, and gave me a free sandwich the day i lost my wallet. i draw her pictures every time, and the other day she offered me freelance illustration work as a result. there is so much beauty and possibility around us, so many stories we can unlock by talking to strangers. when im old and withered, i will mark my years by how many little threads i’ve woven into my life, how many gold links i’ve started by an innocuous interaction with somebody i simply hadn’t known yet.
Feb 26, 2024
every table taken at your favorite coffee shop, but you wanted to sit and read? find a stranger who's not taking up their whole table and who looks nice and ask if you can sit at their table. 99% of the time they'll say yes unless they're waiting on someone. maybe you'll sit together in complete silence the whole time. sometimes tho, you'll sit with someone who sees what you're reading and you have a great discussion about it.
it's really a win win situation. you get a seat in the crowded cafe and possibly you'll leave knowing a lil bit more about the community you live in. maybe you'll even make a friend!
(p.s. this pic isn't a stranger, it's my dad, but he'd be a great stranger to sit with at a coffee shop, i promise.)
Mar 3, 2025
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Because being nosy is fun and strangers are interesting
Nov 10, 2023
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dancing away the tears - yola
raised on robbery - joni mitchell
big feelings - willow
burning down the house - paramore
flea - st. vincent
springtime - allison russell
untidy creature - sleater kinney
what doesn’t kill you makes you paranoid - the beaches
stage fright - the band
run your mouth - the marias
Apr 19, 2024
Both about the spiritual, physical, and physiological effects of being more grounded in nature — add a dash of how nature was originally the root of all of the oldest religions — all coming back to the importance of saving our one green planet 🌎
Apr 23, 2024