Today I am having trouble managing my energy. It's a busy day and I am also feeling quite stressed. I've been stressed all week. I've planned a number of meetings and end up doing a spontaneous energy healing session in the middle of the day. I don't know when I am going to make eye contact with someone.
After my last meeting it's late in the afternoon and I am headed to do an errand on the way back to my office. While walking down the street and I see an Asian man sitting in a public space. I'm focused on my errand and decide not to approach him. On my way back I look to see if he's still there -- now I'm ready to make eye contact with him -- but he's gone. I continue to look for opportunities in the few remaining blocks to my office but don't see anyone with whom I really want to make eye contact, and I'm not in the mood to simply accost someone in a way that I feel will be thought of inconvenient or inconsiderate by them and get rejected.
I return to my office to finish for the day.
Now, it's dark. I'm not particularly excited about this, but I'm determined to have someone to write about today, and I'm going to do it before I go home.
I scout for an LMEC participant as I leave the office and walk across the street to order Thai food to-go. There's a man sitting alone in the restaurant but I don't feel like approaching him. I am carrying a lot of things tonight and I decide to put some of them in my car and then find someone to approach while I wait for my food. Upon leaving the Thai restaurant I notice an Asian man standing near a parking pay station, just hanging out. I decide that I will go to my car and come back and if he is still there I will approach him.
I return and he's still there.
"Hi." *pause* "I'm doing an experiment in which I ask a stranger to make eye contact with me for 30 seconds."
While I'm saying this he takes out the headphone in his right ear. I didn't notice when I approached him that he was wearing an earbud.
And I guess I am a bit nervous since I misspoke. I can feel it in my voice as I'm talking to him. I correct myself.
"Er, not 30, 60 seconds."
"OK, sure," he says.
I tell him how it works: the timer, no looking away, no talking.
He asks if it's for a personal project, and I tell him that it is.
We begin. For this session we are standing on the sidewalk, neither of us leaning against anything. I notice that he has brown eyes. His facial expression changes subtly throughout the session. He rocks back and forth a bit.
When the timer beeps I talk a little more about the project and give him a leave-behind. He agrees to let me use his name and picture. He takes his hood off for the photo.
His name is Ken. I ask him if he has any questions.
"No. It's all here, right?" he asks, indicating the blog on the leave-behind. (I can't remember what I said in response.)
I ask him what he's up to just hanging out here tonight. He says he's waiting for his wife and points to the salon. I guess she works there. I ask if they have Halloween plans and he says he is planning to take her out to dinner tonight.
I thank him for participating and wish him well, after which I walk down the street, find a bench, and sit down to write my notes about this experience.
...
When I finish my notes I walk back in the direction I came to return to the Thai place. I notice a couple crossing the street, the woman holding the man's left arm. She looks back at me, smiles, and laughs. I recognize the man as Ken. That must be his wife. I assume he has just told her about our experience.
"See you later, Ken!" I shout at them.
"Later!" he calls back at me.
She laughs again.