Handle with Care
Have you ever stopped to consider that every other person on the planet is living a life just as vivid and complex as your own? That each random passerby has a world full of challenges, emotions, and dreams? This realization has been named “sonder" in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig. Sonder is the recognition of collective experience and seeing the hundreds people we cross paths with every day, if only for a brief moment: a person in a car rushing past or a lit window in an apartment building.
During the height of the pandemic, a photo went viral of the colorful NYU student dorms at night. You could imagine every student installing LED strips and programming them to a color that fit their mood. To me, these images were an incredible moment of seeing multiple lives at once.
At this show, I encouraged viewers to reflect on their own life, challenges, and hopes for the future. Then I asked them to grab a card, share their story, and then look outward to see the depth of life around them. I believe that recognizing others is the crucial first step in becoming more empathetic towards them. It is a reminder to be patient and kind because you never know what someone is going through. Handle with care.
Behind the Scenes: Building
To kick off participation, I created a survey that brought in over 60 respondents before close. The questions:
1) What is the hardest thing you are going through right now/have gone through?
2) What is one specific hope you have for this year/the future?
The Show
The public reception was incredibly positive and heartfelt. I lot of people participated at the show and added their own cards to the wall.
“I'm standing here crying reading all of these. Such a powerful project. Thank you so much for making it.”
“It’s really the combination of the building and the perspectives from the car that made this so profound.”
“You kind of forget you’re not the main character sometimes. This was cool.”
Thank you!