What is the h!project?
Modern life with all it’s technological marvels has come at a price. Isolation. The television, MP3 players, mobile phones and the internet have all enriched our lives, but taken away that most precious of experiences... human interaction (h!)
One might argue that communication devices such as the mobile phone and the internet have led to an explosion of interaction, both locally and globally, but even with our webcams and mobile video the most important aspect of any interaction (physical proximity) cannot be replicated.
When you are engaged in conversation with a concrete individual there is so much more to be experienced than the sound of the words or the flow of the gestures. Something higher, something spiritual.
...there is so much more to be experienced than the sound of the words or the flow of the gestures. Something higher, something spiritual.
This proliferation of isolation has led to increased fear. Fear of those who are different. Different in age, size and colour. We begin to fear individuals who are dressed in a certain way, or act in ways we find unfamiliar. Not once would we consider speaking to these people, discovering what it is they are passionate about, discovering perhaps that they are not so different from ourselves.
Everyday we walk with them, stand next to them and even sit by them, but never does a word pass our lips. As children we would often meet with new people, different from ourselves. We would play together, laugh together, sometimes even cry together and when our parents said it was time to go we would say goodbye and return to the world we left, our world. We would have no regrets, or expect any reward (physical or emotional). Sometimes we would meet these people again and friendships would begin, but more often than not these interactions were simply joyful moments in time.
What is it as adults that prevents us from experiencing these joyful moments again? Is it the fear? Fear of rejection, or ridicule? Fear of abuse (verbal / physical)? Or simply that imagined, media driven fear that lies in the back of our minds eating away at our humanity?
The h!project brings down these barriers and provides everyone with a ticket into the past, when those brief meetings meant more to us than all the chocolate in the world.
