The Power of Unexpected Connection

Just a couple of weeks ago, my colleague Ken and I traveled to Austin, Texas and to the headquarters office of LIVESTRONG for the unveiling of the first sculpture for Hero's Journey Art. As you can imagine, there was a flurry of excitement and activity leading up to the big event—a flurry that matched the feeling of the city overall, since Austin was in the midst of one of its biggest events of the year: the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and festival. 

Our Hero’s Journey Art project and SXSW have something big in common: they both demonstrate the power of connection. People from all over the country have illustrated their stories on the bricks that make up the sculpture unveiled this month; and while they may never have met each other in person, their stories are both figuratively and tangibly linked through the power of art. Likewise, SXSW is all about confluence and the exciting things that can happen when people and ideas come together. So it’s especially fitting that my favorite story from the week is about exactly that—an unexpected connection that resulted in an unforgettable moment.

Ken met Dianne at a social open house, one of the many SXSW events happening that week. After talking for a few minutes, he told her about our art unveiling that night, and invited her to come over. As it turns out, Dianne had been in a clinical trial many years ago. When she was in the trial, she said, she realized the importance of doing research for the benefit of many others beyond herself. And then she said, "I wish I had joined my first research study when I was younger so that I could have participated in more of them." 

When Ken and I connected during lunch, he told me about Dianne. I loved her story and wanted to connect with her to find out more. But all we knew was her first name. And we were on a tight schedule—I didn't have time to dash back over to the open house to find her in person amid the crowd. So I took to social media.

by Leigh Anne Naas