Humans of New York

For the past months, I have been reading a lot about self-improvement and watching a lot of motivational videos. I've been doing this not because I believe that these are the things I need  to really change my life, but also because I want to learn what strong values that people believed in and how it helped them become successful. And yes, of course, I know that I still have a lot to improve myself, so I guess I kind of need these ideas for myself too. Am I getting you confused? No, just irritated! :D

So far my favorite channel in Youtube is TED Talks. There were so many of these videos I have watched, some are boring and some have really inspired me. It's really different when you hear people speak of their personal experience. The sound of their voice, the gestures they make, the expressions of their faces are what makes their ideas resonate to the viewers and make an impact. I think this is better than reading self help books alone. I'm addicted to hear more ideas and hopefully incorporate them in my personal life as well.

Another recent discovery that I got hooked watching is the Facebook page Humans of New York. It was just an Instagram account that I randomly discovered. An artistic photo of a stranger from New York, and a short sort of story about their lives, maybe the major issues they were currently facing written so well that reading them makes it feel like these people are personally talking to me. Then just a couple of months ago, they launched their facebook page and made them into videos. Random people from New York, they are not celebrities or social media superstars, just ordinary people like us in a short video about their personal lives. Some stories are very touching and some are just ordinary "first world" kind of problems but you can feel that it's real. If I were only to chose one page in FB to follow, this is it.

I'm the kind of person who wants to hear stories of people how they overcome difficult situations in their lives. Each of us are facing problems and no one lives a life just exactly the same as the other, so we can learn and be inspired by each others stories. But asking people to share me such thing is not easy. They would think you're nosy, or some nuts if I just go out asking strangers to share me their lives. It's not easy to to do and connections are hard to find. Same with making (and keeping) friends.

And, of course, I love it more when the videos were shot in Central Park. I love Central Park! I wish we have something like that in the Philippines, but I don't think it will happen. Maybe at least not while I'm still alive.