The Project Begins

I turned 34 yesterday. It wasn't only that I'm now in my "mid-30s" but also that I've been out of high school for 16 years now. I realized that my facebook friends are mostly old high school friends and the rest are related to my teaching career.
When we're in high school we communicate daily with 300 or more people. We work closely with those people for years and then we move on. Opportunities to meet dozens of new people daily don't happen in the real world. We go to work. We play with our families. Sure we might meet up for drinks with a few good friends but we close ourselves off to the rest of the world too easily.
If I've learned one thing about myself, it's that I have the most fun and learn the most when I leap out of my comfort zone. So here's the story that inspired this project:

Friend #1
At the park tonight, one of the baseball fields was flooded and left a horrible stench blowing though the night air. Charlie soon learned that I would want to run past this field each time we came to it and he happily obliged. On our third lap I noticed a gentleman in his mid-50s sitting on a bench, reading a book with his packed bicycle next to him. He looked so serene and peaceful. I wanted that kind of peace. All of the sudden, the stench hit my nose and I realized that this man was relaxing in the center of it all! "How was this possible?" I wondered. Millions of thoughts raced through my mind. Maybe he lost his sense of smell. Maybe he used to sit on that bench with his dearly beloved. I passed him and promised myself that if he was still there on Lap #4, I would stop and ask.
And there he was. Lap #4 arrived and he was still blissfully enjoying his novel. I mustered up the courage for the quarter of a mile leading to him. "Excuse me? Have you noticed that horrible smell coming from the field?" "Yes", he replied. I was a little too blunt when I commented next, "How can you STAND sitting here so relaxed when it stinks?" He looked unbothered, "Eh, I was tired of biking so I sat down."
I figured if that was enough of a reason for him, why fight him? I started to walk away. "Is that all you stopped to ask?" he wondered aloud. "Well, yes. Everyone else runs past this area and it doesn't even phase you."
That is when I officially met George. He introduced himself and explained that he grew up in Detroit and bad smells are a sort of childhood memory for him. I was intrigued. I mentioned that I grew up in Minnesota where people are nice and freely engage in conversation with strangers, and we enjoy our fresh air. He agreed that Arizona is a horse of a different color when it comes to "friendly neighbor-ness."
With that, I told him that I was happy to have met him and we went our separate ways.

After that inspiration (and the courage it took for me to approach a stranger to tell them how strange they were!) I decided to begin my project.
In the next 365 days (until birthday #35...ouch!) I will make a new friend each day. I will engage a stranger in a positive conversation and learn things from the strangeness of strangers. I will tell the world about each person - not for society's sake, but rather to help me remember each person I've met.
Come along with me and meet 365 new people in 365 days!