The Strangers Project

Sharon Theresa
Dec 19, 2015
2 min read

The Strangers Project is an ongoing collection of over 18000 anonymous journal entries collected from complete strangers:

"I like someone. It happened quickly. It's still a strange, timid, gut-tickly feeling—something I might even be inventing. Something precious and new, sneaking its way into my musings over morning coffee, my mid-afternoon daydreams, my late-night insomnia. I told him. I only waited a few weeks before I told him. I knew, almost certainly, that his reaction wouldn't be what I hoped. I knew he would reject me. And he did—he doled out that spiel we've all heard at least once, about how he knows there's "something there," but he doesn't want to "mess up" the "nice thing we have." I nodded, smiled, and left. It was what I expected. I didn't do it for him, anyway. I did it for me—because I'd rather be rejected for my boldness than be rejected by default, via inaction. I'd rather go down proud, brave, and true than afraid. Walking over the Williamsburg Bridge last night—which is something I do whenever I need to think—I had a breakthrough. I'm awesome. I may not always remember that, but I know it, deep down. I'm awesome. I'm brave. I'm interesting. I have a big, warm, loving heart. If he's not into me, it's not because I'm not lovable. I'm attractive. Not to everyone, but to some people. Other humans have been attracted to me before. If he's not into me, it's not because I'm not lovable. It's just because that thing's not there. That fate thing. That magical, invisible, uncontrollable connecting thing that brings people together. That thing is up to the universe. And I trust the universe to do what's right, as long as I do my part—which is to say, as long as I show up. I don't know if he'll change his mind. I don't know if I'll even remember his existence in a year. And that's okay. I've never felt freer in my life. We all just have to keep loving. Loving freely. Loving needlessly. Loving big and bold and unattached. We are all lovable. The right love will eventually bounce back."