Aug

“Missed Connections” Offer Alluring Life Lessons

by Meredith Mullins on August 22, 2013

Four strangers on a train, ripe for missed connections and life lessons about seizing the moment

Missed Connection on the Red Line
© Digital Vision/Darrin Klimek

Carpe Diem: Seize the Moment . . . or Not

Our eyes met several times today on the A train. You have blond hair and were wearing a black jacket. When you got off at 5th, you looked at me through the window and smiled. Would love to see you again.

I never do this but . . . we saw each other on the Red Line today. You’re tall (like me) and have the bluest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. It was hard to stop sneaking a peek at you. You got off at Market Street. Figured it’d be worth a shot to post this.

You were at the Springsteen concert last night (Row S) sitting next to me. The girl you were with started out next to me, but then you switched seats (thank you). If you see this and would like to chat, reply back and we can go from there.

In this fast-paced world of devices, headphones, and anonymity, human interactions are sometimes elusive.

Woman looking a man with newspaper, a missed connection or a life lesson about carpe diem

The elusiveness of human interaction
© Brand X Pictures

Although we bury ourselves in our smartphones and work routines, most of us do have an innate desire for connection. And, if we’re single, we may be actively searching.

Dating sites and matchmaking services have solid audiences—with tales of success, frustration, and failure. But another path is gaining momentum.

Missed Connections

Missed Connections are the moments when spontaneous smiles, magnetic eye contact, or shared experiences trigger an attraction . . . but the players in the drama don’t complete the connection. Shyness. Intervening events. Bad timing. Whatever the cause, the story is left unfinished.

Clerk smiles at customer, a life lesson moment that could turn into a missed connection or carpe diem

A magnetic moment
© Purestock

Then, the lament—the what if’s and coulda/woulda/shoulda’s—and the freedom of imagination to create romantic dreams, the kind that fuel film scripts with happy endings.

Now, these lost moments can be “advertised” so that a next chapter becomes a possibility.

It all began when Craigslist launched its “Missed Connections” section where people could post their story and have a second chance at getting to know that mysterious stranger.

The idea has spread to newspapers, magazines, and online forums. It’s a booming business and also one of those sources of entertainment where hours (or days) can be lost before you know it.

Four strangers standing in a subway, ripe for missed connections or the life lesson of carpe diem

Public transit is a popular place for “missed connections.”
© Getty Images/Jupiterimages

Psychology Today has even analyzed the patterns of missed connections. Californians seem to miss their connections at the gym. In the northeast and south, Walmarts, supermarkets, and public transit are rife with near misses.

And, oddly, in Indiana, missed connections happen mostly “at home.” (Turns out this isn’t a judgment on family life, but rather a tribute to the pizza delivery person, the appliance repairman, or the neighbor.)

Four seated train passengers, life lessons about missed connections or carpe diem

Will the connection be missed or the moment seized?
© Stockbyte

A Venue for Dreamers . . . and Writers

While the success rate of star-crossed strangers’ meeting again is low, Missed Connections forums have become a place of dreams and, as it turns out, also a springboard for budding fiction writers and poets.

Yes, emerging writers can still submit to the New Yorker, Ploughshares, and Paris Review, in the hope of getting attention. But they can also post on Missed Connections to test the waters.

The stories expand the boundaries of truth. Plot lines twist and turn, and characters come alive. Readers can get a taste of Harlequin romance and action thrillers for free.

We were sitting together waiting for the bus, but not really waiting (come to think of it). Actually, we just had decided to sit down somewhere and this bench was catching the mid-afternoon sunlight nicely. I looked at you and said “I don’t see myself ever breaking up with you.” You smiled.

—Quote from Redeye Chicago Missed Connections

We chatted briefly while I waited for the teller to fill my bag with money. You waved goodbye with a big smile while I ran out to a waiting car. I wanted to get your name but did not have the time. You . . . tall . . . great face . . . nice hands (I noticed when you raised them) . . . cute smile. Me, a little nervous, wearing a mask, toting a gun and a bag full of money. If you see this, and I hope you will, tell me what bank I was robbing (so I know it is you).
P.S. No FBI or local police.

—Quote from Craigslist Missed Connections

Your image is forever etched on my soul/It’s like I knew you before that moment/But it’s too late now/You got off at Lake/You looked back at me and smiled/like you felt it all too/but both of us too shy to make a move/Now you’re lost to me/The memory is all that remains.

—Quote from Redeye Chicago Missed Connections

Wistful or hopeful about second chances?
© Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock

Life Lessons

Missed Connections can be wistful or hopeful. The posts can wax poetic or be downright pornographic (an unfortunate recent trend). Underlying emotions can channel regret or offer the optimism of a second chance.

Aside from pure entertainment and good reading as new talent in the fiction genre emerges, Missed Connections do offer a life lesson.

Couple smiles at chance meeting in supermarket, a life lesson about carpe diem.

Carpe Diem
© Getty Images/Jupiterimages

Oh, I see. It may be better to seize the moment and make the connection when the opportunity is within reach rather than leaving the next chapter to fate.

Carpe Diem. What have you got to lose?

For more immersion in Missed Connections, read the recently posted Craigslist short story—being touted as the ultimate missed connection and see Sophie Blackall’s unique illustrations of missed connections.

Quotes VIA Craigslist and Redeye Chicago.

Comment on this post below or share your story of a missed connection—fact or fiction. Inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins Comments

Life Lessons

Aug

Yarn Bombing Has Its Purls of Wisdom

by Janine Boylan on August 19, 2013

Yarn bombing turns the Andy Warhol Bridge, Pittsburg, into creative public art. Image © Knit the Bridge

The Andy Warhol Bridge
© Knit the Bridge

Street Knitting As Public Art

The Andy Warhol/7th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh has been bombed!

So has the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles.

And so have numerous trees, statues, railings, phone booths, bicycle racks, and lampposts.

Yarn bombing, or yarn graffiti, is often the work of stealth knitters who wish to beautify a public place with their artistic expression. This soft form of graffiti has become more mainstream in the last few years, though, and more communities are embracing it as public art.

Meet three creative yarn bombers.

Jessie Hemmons, The Street Bomber

Ishknits, or Jessie Hemmons, is a self-described yarn bomber who started her work in Pennsylvania and has recently brought it with her in her move to northern California.

Jessie Hemmons shows a unique artistic expression---yarn bombing to create public art. Image © Dustin Campbell

Jessie Hemmons, installing her work
Image © Dustin Campbell

Hemmons learned to crochet as a teen. A rough childhood led her to a juvenile detention facility where she had difficulty fitting in.

Eventually, she found crochet hooks and, through some relentless begging, got other girls to teach her the craft.

She explains how this experience became an Oh, I see moment for her, learning that “knitting and crocheting can be used as a language; a way to connect with people when other methods aren’t as effective.”

What motivates her? Hemmons shares more insights:

I have always loved graffiti and street art. I love the concept and the rebelliousness of it.
Street art resonates with me the most because I have always had this angst and a need to assert my belief that art should be accessible.
I have always struggled with accepting my place in society as a female. . . . I want to use a mockingly feminine craft to assert myself as a female figure in the world of street art.

This video shows Hemmons making and installing a piece in Pittsburgh.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

Yarn bombing of a Mayor Rizzo statue creates unusual public art. Image © Conrad Benner/Streetsdept

Mayor Rizzo, bombed
Image © Conrad Benner/Streetsdept

Knit the Bridge, Community Artists in Pennsylvania

Knitting can be a bridge to communication between people. Or knitting can just cover a bridge.

The Knit the Bridge group depended entirely on local communities’ support to accomplish their knitting project: a huge display and glorification of yarn work wrapping the Andy Warhol/7th Street Bridge, pictured at the top of the post.

Unlike traditional yarn bombers, the group sought permission to do their display. And they have a set time on September 6, 2013, when they will remove it. Oh, I (wish I could) see it!

Knit panels for yarn bombing the Andy Warhol bridge in a Pittsburg public art project. Image © Jay Ressler

Panels ready for hanging on the bridge
Image © Jay Ressler

Some number facts:

14 months was spent planning, fundraising, knitting, and crocheting
1,847 participants signed up to help
580 hand-knit 3″ x 6″ panels line the walkway of the bridge
3,000 linear feet of knitting covers the bridge towers
337 volunteers installed the panels on the bridge in two 15-hour days

After the exhibit, the group will be cleaning and donating the one-of-a-kind blanket-sized panels to those in need.

Installing knit panels as part of a yarn bombing public art project on Pittsburg's Andy Warhol Bridge. Image © Knit the Bridge

YBLA—Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

This group had done a number of displays throughout the City of Angels, but they had a new, ambitious idea: cover the Craft and Folk Art Museum with crocheted squares, donated by volunteers. It sounded rather straightforward at first.

Artistic expression of yarn bombing at LA's Craft and Folk Art Museum in a creative public art project. Image © Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

And then the squares started coming in. Over 500 people from 25 countries donated squares—15,000 hand-crafted squares in all!

The stories behind the squares are heart-tugging.

A neurologist in Turkey encouraged her patients to make squares as part of their treatment. It offered them a familiar, but creative outlet. And they relished being part of a public art project!
13 squares arrived from Iran, but not by mail, since it is not possible to exchange mail between Iran and the U.S. Instead, the squares were transferred from traveler to traveler to reach L.A.
Instructors at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles held the hands of their visually-impaired students as they crafted their first-ever crochet squares for the project.

Incoming mail, containing knitted squares for a yarn bombing public art project at LA's Craft and Folk Art Museum. Image © Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

After fundraising, hiring engineers, processing city permits, and even fire-proofing the yarn squares, YBLA stitched their museum cozy together and unveiled their work. It will remain up until September 14, 2013.

But they won’t stop there. The group will sew the extra donated squares into blankets for people who need them on Skid Row. YBLA also plans to work with the Skid Row residents to create products for their store.

The Knits and Purls of It

Yarn bombing is a colorful, non-damaging form of artistic expression. It adds to a community’s public art. But the real purl of wisdom is how well this hand-crafted art pulls people, a community, and even the world, together.

Front Street in Pittsburg where a yarn bomber' Jessie Hemmon's showing artistic expression becomes public art. Image © Damon Landry/damonabnormal

To watch a longer video about Jessie Hemmon’s work, click here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan Comments

The World's Art & Design/USA

Aug

Art Goes Across Cultures in “Tribute to Mandela”

by Sheron Long on August 15, 2013

How is it that a Belgian emerging artist, working with Chinese seals, honors South African activist and former President Nelson Mandela with a monumental portrait in the streets of Shanghai?

The inspiration that comes from going across cultures is, at least, part of the answer. In this video, seal artist Phil Akashi, shows his creative process.

If the video does not play, watch it here.

Mandela, An International Hero

Nelson Mandela (1918– ) celebrated his 95th birthday on July 18, 2013.

Nelson Mandela, subject of Phil Akashi's "Tribute to Mandela," a portrait created with Chinese seals and illustrating the art of going across cultures

His vision of equal rights for the citizens of South Africa led to resistance against apartheid policies and to his imprisonment for 27 years.

After his 1990 release, he and President FW de Klerk negotiated an end to apartheid for which they won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

At age 77, Mandela voted for the first time in the 1994 elections, in which he became South Africa’s first democratically elected President.

Sheron Long 2 Comments

China/Crossing Cultures/South Africa/The World's Art & Design

World Views:

Topics

“Missed Connections” Offer Alluring Life Lessons

Carpe Diem: Seize the Moment . . . or Not

Missed Connections

A Venue for Dreamers . . . and Writers

Life Lessons

Yarn Bombing Has Its Purls of Wisdom

Street Knitting As Public Art

Jessie Hemmons, The Street Bomber

Knit the Bridge, Community Artists in Pennsylvania

YBLA—Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

The Knits and Purls of It

Art Goes Across Cultures in “Tribute to Mandela”

Mandela, An International Hero