This slideshow requires JavaScript.
November 14, 2010
I heart Oly
What does it take to love a city?
The big city is a haven for grim faces and a fortress against personal connection. As exciting as the tall buildings, varying shops, and clamorous noises can be, when you get down to the street level it is a curious set of souls that inhabit the city. No interaction, no interruption. Walls of silence that want to go about without rubbing elbows with another city-dwellers.
During a visit to the big city, I couldn’t help observe the sad production of life being played out. Soon I had a growing heartache for the complacency echoed throughout the faces of the city. Without actually knowing what I was doing, I pull out my camera and make ready to cut through the walls of silence…
“Can you make a heart?”
There is a deep love for people and the city, that is rooted in the faith I follow. It is this unabashed devotion to see strangers’ eyes light up with joy, that I decide to invade the day and ask, “Can you make a heart?”
These photos capture the heart of city – exposed! These are responses to the challenge. Everyone I asked to strike a pose and take a picture would laugh, giggle, and grin. Some people even sought me out to have their own heart-moment captured. The only thing I wish my camera could have caught, was the glow of that soul as they walked away.
The answer to the question of how to love a city is to just provide a moment to folks for them to be themselves. When you walk up to someone and they don’t have to earn your respect, trust, and love – it is a gift that breaks down walls. After all, we all want to escape our own defenses and have someone recognize our priceless smiles, share a spirit of spontaneity, and to love us instantly.
Can you make a heart? Will you open yourself up to spending a moment with a stranger? Take the challenge and see what your own city has to offer.
Streets of Oly 