the love & hate project

            When this project came to me back in September, I didn’t really think I knew how far I wanted to go or what I even really wanted this to be. The Love & Hate Project sounded cool, but what was my goal? Essentially, I wanted to be able to meet cool people and write more. Those were the two, more self-seeking goals that I had in mind.

            A few months later, I had the idea in mind that I wanted to talk about people’s stories as they related to the two – in my opinion, most basic – human emotions: love and hatred. There was something I felt I could talk about, because everyone has stories from their lives where those two emotions were present. I started to get really excited; how many people could I find that had stories that were worth sharing?

            Flash forward to March. I was working on two different stories, one for love and for hate. I was getting ready to interview a couple who were ready and willing to share their story. Things were coming into place. And then, Covid-19 hit. My university was closed down for the rest of the semester. I moved out of my apartment in 3 days and drove myself back to my parents’ home in rural Wyoming where I could quarantine myself with them, and for a while, it felt chaotic.

            Obviously, this project is hard to do without talking to people. The basis of it was to let me meet new people, and the kind of stories I was looking for required face to face interaction. What with not being able to leave my house, this project was temporarily put on halt.

            I managed to connect to the couple I was planning to interview when I was in Colorado, and we did our interview over videocall. They were the silver lining for this project, because I was about ready to call it quits. Incredibly, I was able to put out the first story in the Love & Hate Project.

            While only one story is out right now, I plan to continue. It’s a working progress and fortunately, I love it so I’m willing to continue it. What I hope it can be in the future is an inspiration. The purpose behind this collection of memoirs is to show people how to love each other and how to forgive each other – when we share our own stories, we make them relatable to everyone else. I want to spread love and kindness, and sharing stories is the best way I can do that. As I continue to add to this project as time goes on, I hope that it can inspire you and anyone else – to release hate, spread love, and most of all, be kind.