6/27/10

"Dear Stranger,

Stop. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Hold it until you think your lungs will burst. Let it out. Relax. Breath in again.

Sometimes we forget that. Exactly what breathing feels like. The sensations we experience. Right now, I am laying on my stomach in my bed. I'm in my room with blue walls & black furniture. In my house in a town I call Bumblefuck. I feel the air circulating around me, pushed by a little fan. I feel the freedom of my bare feet dangling over the edge of my bed. I feel the ache in my chest & stomach from the loss of the boy I love. I taste the lingering sweetness of fresh strawberries &  vanilla ice cream. I smell the coconut shampoo used to wash my hair. The comforting scent of clean laundry coming from my pillows. I hear my dogs barking & my healthy lungs working. I see my book shelf, covered with thousands of pages with words that tell stories of all kinds. I see my shaking hand slide across the page that you now hold. 

Have you let go of that breath yet?

Your life will be difficult. You might get scared & feel like it's impossible. But you have to believe that somehow, someday, everything will be okay. And to get that far, you have to breath.

So get comfortable. I mean really, I-never-want-to-move-from-this-spot comfortable.

Ready? Breath.

What do you feel?

Taste?

Smell?

Hear?

See?

Is it beautiful? I hope it is.

Love always, "

Want to submit a letter?

6/20/10

Before I post today's letter, I would like to pose a question. Does anyone think I should post digital submissions as well as physical ones? It would be more convenient, but I think it would subtract from the novelty of the site. I would love to hear your thoughts.

So, *drum roll* here is today's letter! It's interesting to note that the handwriting is seemingly female:

"Dear Stranger,

    I want to tell you about a girl that somehow stole my heart, a friend that isn't even aware of my love for her. I slept beside her last night just breathing- drinking her in. Feeling the heat roll off her in waves to crash into me, my fingers twitched with wanting desire – the urge to touch her -where? how? what to say? I've been struggling for breath since she took my breath away. Gasping lungs, breath hitched; the thought of our first kiss.
    I wish I could describe her to you – indulge you in my fantasies but you could never see her like I see her, I don't think anyone can. I see past every front she throws up – I see into her – the core of her – hot against my cold skin. The taste of her – raw on my tongue, from another wasted fantasy. Wasted because she's not interested wasted because I get so jealous just thinking about it. I love her – I hate her. I hate the way she says THAT name like a secret with just a ghost of a smile over her lips – a hushed sound – protected and guarded – I want to be her secret! I hate her for hating herself for not listening when I says she's beautiful for disregarding every long lingering glance. THEY'D NEVER SEE YOU LIKE I DO – you're beautiful. You dress yourself up for them but for me you can be natural, true and pure. You can throw your hair up in a scruffy pony tail leaving just your fringe and a scattering of hair loose – you can forgo the eyeliner – your eyes are so stunning alone – you could dress in rags and for once not look 'perfect' and I still wouldn't find a flaw – my hands would itch to run through you hair, lips demanding tastes! Side bye side our hands brush and you recoil from the cold but you smirk to yourself at the lingering feeling – I love that look- That saucyness – bold as brass – washed away to a violent blush if I only quirk my eyebrow at you. I love your innocence, that naivety so nice – so sweet. So young yet worldly – live before – broken in.
    I want you to know that it hurts when you date
    I want to confess how hot I find your teeth
    I want to tell you that I drown in your eyes,
    I want to tell you!
I promised last night;
    “If her lovely eyes are open I'll tell her.” - Your eyes were closed leaving me with the hushed sound of your breathing and the kiss of your breath. I watched your chest rise – quicker than mine – I saw life flow through you – bursting out your pores – A sun – radiating your glory. I could just talk to you all day – snuggle into pillows and whisper to you until morning.

I'd never let anyone hurt you- I'd protect you – especially from me. You'd never have to fear this voice or these eyes because when I look at your smile, I falter and my voice cracks. Because when you look at me I have to reconnect my sentences – Dot my T's and cross my i's – Sometimes you're too perfect to be true, and I cling to the knowledge that no one knows you like I do. You relax in my presence – recline into my embrace – words flow between the gaps in our persons – so close but so far apart. I feel the distance in our silences how far I can travel yet you stay grounded for your next word – I long to unleash you – release you – free – wild abandon. ME – Chose Me!

BECAUSE WHEN I'M NOT WITH YOU – I'M NOT LIVING – I'M NOT BREATHING AND MY HEART IS NOT BEATING. EVERYTHING BUT TIME STOPS! TIME DRAGS ON AND ON – MAKES ME CRAVE YOU MORE – IF I HAD BREATH TO SCREAM – I BEG YOU TO RESTART MY FROZEN BODY – BREATHE LIFE INTO ME AGAIN. POUR YOUR BLOOD INTO MY MOUTH AND DRINK YOU LIKE A DRUG – LIKE OXYGEN. SURVIVING ISN'T THE POINT; YOUR LOVE IS DESTRUCTIVE – DESTRUCT ME!! ASSEMBLE ME – ID LAY CRUMPLED AT YOUR FEET- WAITING FOR YOUR GLORIOUS LUNGS TO DISPERSE THAT BREATH YOU STOLE IN OUR FIRST KISS – HEAVENELY TORTURE – HEAVENLY PAIN – WAITING FOR THE WARMTH TO DIFUSE THROUGH MY CAPILLARES TO MY SWELLING HEART – WAITING FOR YOUR BAITED BREATH TO SPILL SWEET OBSCENITIES INTO MY ATTENTIVE EAR – YOUR WORDS LIKE POISON (?) TO MY LIPS DRAW OUT SUCH VULGARITIES (?) AS THIS:
    I LOVE YOU

    I need you to feel me too – feel the core of you against my own – our souls CRUSHED TOGETHER – US. Flawless in lines of pale and tanned where you stop and I begin.

    So Stranger if you ever see her (you'll know) tell her how much  she is loved because it's lonely on my side of the bed.

Love from the laughter

xxx
<3"

Here is a description of the project, and the address to submit your letters to.

6/13/10

"Dear Stranger,

I want you to know that there are beautiful things in this world. There are sunrises and sunsets, flowers and snowflakes. There are fresh apples, fields of grass, and bridges over still water. There are strangers who stop to hold the door, and writing on walls.

Sometimes I forget.

- Anonymous"

(I'm out of town and do not have access to my scanner at the moment, but I will have an image of this one up ASAP.)

6/7/10

"Dear Stranger,

I feel like a useless pebble mixed in with the sand. How would I ever be noticed by the vast ocean? Among so many others, what are the chances of someone picking me up, and admiring me? Putting me in their pocket like a good luck charm. Something to cherish. There is no one I have loved more than this one flawed and lonesome stone. I was only a pebble to him too, but I will carry him for the rest of my life. 
 ~A Stranger"

Have a story you want to tell? Send in your letter!

Update 5/31/10

And the accompanying letter...

"Dear Stranger-

Hello there. I feel like i should start by telling you a few things about myself. My name is unimportant but you should know, I love creaky stair cases, i have a love hate relationship with cheep vodka, like most people my age. I dream about Paris and as I write this letter im watching my favorite movie., Drop Dead Gorgeous. You should rent it... its hilarious. As you can already tell from this letter I don't really care about imperfections, I cant spell very well but my imperfections don't define me so who really cares.

So my new friend, who I just found out is an inspiening poet & philosophy major just told me about “Concentrism” a theory about sharing one center, and the best way I can do that with you is by telling you a few of my favorite memories...

So I was in europe this last summer and I took a weekend to travel to Brussels by myself. It was incredible to feel compleately renewed by being alone in a new country. One morning I was having a coffee and waiting for a museum to open and I asked a lady to take my picture. She was also waiting for the museum to open up so we started talking. When the museum finally opened we went inside and I noticed that all of the information about the art was not in english so my new friend and I walked through the museum and she translated it for me. Its amazing how people allow you to learn so much. Life is all about relationships, and it is the people in the world that make it worth living in.

When I was in highschool I moved to new zealand and went to a bording school for 5 months. Living with the same people allows you to get to know them very well. My good friend Ryan was such an awesome guy. I spent 5 months getting to know him and when I left to come back to the united states he wrote me a letter that I read on the plane. He told me in this letter that he loved poetry, but he has never told anyone beside his family, I had no idea. At the end of the poem he quoted a poem saying “two paths dressed in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by and it has made all the difference.” Kind of cheesy but true. Just because we are socialized to think one way or act one way does not make it right. Sometimes you just have to do shit just because you can an because you know that any experience can be changing.

If there is any parting wisdom I can leave you with its to live fully, embrace the unknown, and find yourself. & Write often.

- a fellow stranger."

Send in your letter! 

As well as an other letter...

"Dear Stranger,

I feel like I'm losing my mind. I have no one here to vent to, at least, nobody who can really, insightfully listen. I promise you I'm not an emo kid, just a 24 year old guy feeling lost and somewhat lonely. I should finally start my real college career soon. Going to school in August. I spent my after high school years bumming around community college and trying to “find myself.” We see how that turned out, huh? I wonder how you feel. Whether you're older or younger, experienced or fresh-eyed, loving or callous. I often wonder what the stories of other people are, the random people you see on the streets, the reasons they are where they are today. I wish I could record the lives of others, because everyone has a story to tell. This is part of my story, this letter. It's an embodiment of hope, of love. This letter is my attempt at being human again, or maybe, for the first time.

The Lost Stranger"

Submission 3/3/10

Front:















Back:















The accompanying letter:

" Hi. I don't know you. And I know that this might never mean to you what it does to me.

But:

I feel like writing so I'm writing to you. Do you love getting mail as much as I do? I really like it. I peek through the little glass window of my mailbox every time I pass it, hoping to have something waiting for me. But usually there's just a bunch of fliers stuck in there, trying to get me to rush a sorority or join the engineering club or something. Neither are likely endeavors for me.

Anyways, I was thinking about a lot of things yesterday at the coffee shop in front of the fire. I could see people outside walking through the cold through the flames. Their breath clouding out in front of them, turning into thoughts they hurried through. I noticed this one boy, though, in one of those hats that look silly on everyone but people still wear anyways, except he could pull it off, and he wasn't carrying anything or looking at the ground and I thought maybe it was you. But he kept walking and I kept sipping my tea- so I know it wasn't.

What do you think of right before you fall asleep? Sometimes I think about really gorgeous lines and colors and patterns, and then I wonder if I'm some kind of artistic genius and I should try and draw them out, but it never works that way. Sometimes I think about owls, or the beach at Grand Haven, that one I used to hike to with my old boyfriend. ->

And sometimes I think about dancing at my wedding, you know, the lace and baby's breath and blades of grass on my bare feet all swirl together,and then I get all embarrassed for being the stereotypical "wedding dreamer girl." And then I realize how silly it is to get embarrassed about what you think about by yourself before you fall asleep. I'm not really embarrassed anyways.

Last night, I actually thought about how horrible it would be if someone ordered chicken McNuggets and instead of chicken McNuggets there were a bunch of live gerbils in the box. Terrifying.

Do you have a favorite feeling? Maybe the one right after you wake up from a lazy Sunday afternoon nap and your bed is all warm and nice. Or maybe the feeling of not knowing what will happen next. How about the feeling from too much coffee and a cigarette? That's one of my favorites- jittery and calm all at once. Or maybe you like it when you get confused or frustrated or sad for no reason and then you realize how very little it matters, in the scheme of things.

Today, I was walking uphill, against the wind and everyone around me had their scarves basically choking the life out of them and I just couldn't help but smile at all of them - even the ones that glared. I don't know, I guess it was one of those little affirming, cheesy as fuck moments that people have far too infrequently that makes you relaly, genuinely happy to be alive. The snow was sharp and in my eyes and making my hair frizz out of my hood like goddamn octopus tentacles or something, but I've never felt more beautiful. I realize how corny that seems.

And then later, on the phone, my mom asked me if I was in love. She said I was acting like people who have just fallen in love act. She was kidding but:

I think I am in love.

Anyways, I'm tired now, so I'm going to go lie down in my soft little bed and think about some more weird shit.

Wherever you are, whoever you are, I hope I know you.

I think I do. "

Follow this link to submit your letter!

First Submissions!

Transcription:

" Dear Stranger,

I don't know what to say so bare with me.

You could be any; age, skin color, height, weight, hair color, blah, blah, blah.

While reading this you could be; picking your nose, wearing your favorite jeans or not, reading this out loud, eating an apple or petting your pet???

Anyway, I hope this letter finds you in good health.

All the best,

Little gray haired 50 something- Lady"