My Journey to Make One New Friend a Day for One Month

I love meeting people. I really do. Something about a person’s unique story draws me in to want to learn about things that make them happy, adventures they’ve been on, fun facts and hobbies that I never knew.

We’re thirteen months into quarantine and we’re starved for human connection. What to do?

In a random musing the other day, I stumbled upon Maria Scileppi’s TedX talk from 2013 called “A Friend a Day.” In an effort to make friends in a new city, Scileppi set out to make one new friend every day for one year and then brought those people together at the end of the year to meet each other.

Something really surprising came out of this experiment:

People started identifying as the date they met Maria and connections she had never dreamed of sprouted up. For example, her August 9 and October 20 got married!

It was an interesting frame of mind to watch this Ted Talk during a pandemic and I wondered, could I try to replicate this during a time when loneliness and isolation are more rampant than ever?

I decided to write to Maria and see if she would be open to sharing her experience and advising on a “pandemic-edition” to the Friend a Day experiment.

Maria sounded just like she did in her Ted Talk: genuine, curious, and sincere. I felt an immediate connection with her and she suggested I create a framework for myself as I embark on this project.

So for the next one month, here are my rules:

1. Connect with one total stranger in a socially distant and safe way
2. Publish a short blurb about each person on Medium as part of my March Series
3. Ask every single person this question: “What or who are you most grateful for in these times?”
4. When it is safe, organize an event to bring the Marchies together

I am curious and excited to embark on this journey but above all, I am hopeful. I am hopeful that this project can spark joy and meaning in others and that we can start to build back community in a time where our bubbles are so small.

I wonder who I will meet, what their stories are. As Maria told me on the phone,

“Vulnerability is currency”

Thank you for joining me on this journey to meet the souls of San Francisco.

Stay tuned for the daily feature!