Is There Such A Thing As Too Many Friends?

Friday afternoon I turned the TV on, just in time to see some lady talking about her "project." She was originally from Manhattan and had moved to Chicago, or somewhere, I can't really remember. She seemed to be having some sort of midlife crisis and needed change -- big change. She was an artist, but her day job was something entirely different. Reason # 1 not to become an artist. Most artists don't make enough money to live on, and usually end up settling for some meaningless job to pay the bills.

So she got to Chicago and realized she had one small problem: She did not know anyone and had no friends. No problem. Go out and make some friends. That is where the project begins. She set out to meet and connect with one new friend every day for one whole year. She took a picture of each new friend, then took a picture of all of her pictures of friends at the end of the year. Some days she made more than one new friend. It turned out to be about 400 new friends. Out of 400 new friends, about 40 have become good friends. How cool is that?

Well, I am thinking about copying her. I want to meet one new person in Helena for a year. I am uncertain whether to tell the new friend they are part of a project. In a way, it seems rather offensive. It may come across that I really don't care about the person, just about acquiring a new friend. Some people may be intrigued by the notion. I don't know how it will shake out, but I am willing to give it a try. Maybe it doesn't need to be a project, just something fun to do. While in Babati, I made it a point to greet every person that I walked by, and some of those people did became a friend. I think it will work in Montana just as well. Tanzania reminds me of Montana. Simple people, simple fun. I will keep you posted.

When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, "Damn, that was fun." ~ Groucho Marx