Happy new year! I have some big changes to my blog coming up soon (a new site, probably, and new subjects) so watch for those in the near future. Until then, I have my first personal goal for the year. I want to meet at least one new person every single day for the next 100 days. I was watching that video that has gone viral of the woman who was inspired by the #giveit100 to work out for 100 days in a row, and I wanted to challenge myself to grow in a positive direction too. Political commentators often remark on what the President has done during his/her (eventually within my lifetime a her) first 100 days; it seems like a good amount of time to get something important done.  It’s also been just about 100 days since my Daddy died unexpectedly, and I have been praying about having something new and joyful sprout up in my life to help me gain altitude again.  So,  I decided that I would like to meet at least new person every day for the next 100 days as an antidote for grief and a road to wonder and joy. Here’s about the project, and how you can participate with me:

Q) Why did you decide that you want to meet 100 new people in the next 100 days?

A) Because I would like to more mindful of the people around me in my natural circles of influence, because I want something fun and exciting to look forward to in each day, because I want to increase my number of teammates and friendly faces after a season of terrible loss, and because I’d like to meet some new friends. As an introvert I also need a kick in the pants to say hello to strangers.

Q) What are the guidelines for this challenge?

A) There aren’t many. The person that I meet may be completely new to me, or they may be someone who I see around all the time that I have never actually spoken to or officially swapped names. They might be a new girl at the office or that cashier at the grocery store who always wears Broncos jerseys. They might be friends-of-friends that I meet at concerts or parties. They might be people at the large church that I recently started attending. They might be the homeless guys on the street.  Babies are easy to meet, as a friendly dog owners. The only people who I am NOT looking to meet are those with evil intent towards me or general baddies – no thank you.

Q) How’s it going?

A) I started my 100 days on January 9, 2014. Today I am on Day 5 and it’s going far better than expected! I’ve met friends of friends, the director of a local non-profit who runs music festivals, and new people at work. I even met my pastor (those of you who go to very large churches get that it’s actually pretty common in these large bodies to go years without actually meeting your head pastor).  The web of interconnectedness of even these new people is astonishing me! On Saturday I met P, who works at our local consignment gear store. As it turns out, he knows my friend-of-a-friend J, and told me that he was going to J’s mother’s house that evening for dinner. On Sunday I was surprised to meet J’s mom herself – turns out she works at the other gear store in town. When she told me who she was, I asked her how her dinner with P had gone and she said they had a great time. It’s SO weird to know evening plans for a total stranger’s life! Anyway, I bet that as these 100 days progress that I’ll find even more odd connections between people.

Q) This sounds like fun! How can I participate?

A) Well, you can strive to meet 100 people in 100 days yourself. You can also help me by making connections for me. If you know someone super-awesome who you think I would enjoy meeting, tell me about them. Is your BFF a cool girl you think I’d enjoy being friends with too? Let me know. Do you have a family member who wants to know more about my historic site? Bring them over! Is your mother the funniest person who ever lived? I want to meet her. You get the idea.

I’ll keep you updated on how things are going. So far, as of Day 5, I have met 12 new people. If things keep up at this rate, I should know hundreds of new people by the time the project is over.