I rejected the concept of “Humans of New York” at first. I didn’t know why should I care? I found myself passing judgement on something I knew nothing about…people I knew nothing about. I must have so little in common with humans from so far away.

And then I read one. The photo is what got me first. Each very short story has a picture of the human. Just looking at the human I found I wanted to know more  – they were looking right at me, inviting me to inquire about them. I was surprised about how much I felt for the people I was reading about. The empathy I had for them, how much I had in common with them.  Many of them were so funny, some were so lovely, and a few were still in so much pain overcoming difficulties I couldn’t even imagine. All told in very few words.

What I like about it…

My perspective has been changed about so many things. People, writing, overcoming hardships. Again, I like anything that makes me think about things in a different way.  The pictures have captured my attention and the stories surprised me. A great reminder the world is much smaller than we think it is.

Read A Humans of New York… Sample Story Here

“I was naive.  I was coming to Rome from a very little town.  I was Catholic and truly believed that people were good.  And I was seventeen.  Everyone around me was talking about love, and being in love, so I wanted to experience it myself.  I met him at an audition.  Both of us wanted to be in films.  He was thirty-eight: tall, very attractive, and working as a stuntman.  He wanted to spend all his time with me.  I thought I was in love.  But after several months of living together, I began to realize that it wasn’t meant to be.  But the more I withdrew, the more controlling he became.  He went everywhere with me.  He’d lock me in the house. Read the rest of the story….