"We're missing each other" | Baltimore strangers on fear, courage, and curiosity | Artscape 2025

Описание: What happens when you hand strangers a story starter prompt and ask them to share their story in response to the question they pulled? At Baltimore's Artscape 2025, we discovered that beneath the surface of everyday life, people are carrying profound experiences of loss, transformation, and hope—and they're hungry to be heard.

This is Strangers on the Street, a series from The Traveling Table where we take our Together To Gather Conversation Card deck into public spaces and invite passersby to pull a card and share what's really on their hearts. No preparation. No filters. Just honest human connection.
In this episode, eight strangers reveal what shaped them:

💛 Acacia shares how being homeless a year ago taught her to "give to the point it hurts"
💛 Brian names what we're all feeling: we're missing the curiosity about each other we used to have
💛 Dennis opens up about losing his son on his birthday—and why love matters more than anything
💛 Gerald "Soldier" Dent reflects on 40 years incarcerated and a decade of freedom dedicated to giving back
💛 Dylan recalls a moment in a muddy cave that taught him about patience and holding space for others
💛 Ruth, a Baltimore City firefighter, reminds us that first responders show up because they care
💛 Esson navigates the ambivalence of finally getting the job they dreamed of
💛 John finds home in an unexpected place: a studio wall organized with 50 types of tape

Key insights explored:
→ Why fear has replaced curiosity in how we approach each other
→ What it means to go the extra mile—in service, survival, and art
→ How patience and presence help us move through difficult moments together
→ The power of treating people the way you want to be treated, especially when your circumstances change
→ Why living life fully means sometimes giving until it hurts

"We're missing an ability to communicate and to listen. We're missing a curiosity of each other that we used to have." — Brian

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👍 Like this video if you believe in the power of curious conversations with strangers
💬 Comment: If you pulled a card, which question would you choose to answer?
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Get your own Together To Gather Conversation Card deck: https://www.andhuman.space/togetherto...

CHAPTERS:
00:33 - Acacia - From Homelessness to Travel & Giving Until It Hurts
02:19 - Dennis - Loss, Faith, and Starting on the Right Foot
04:16 - Brian - Why We're Missing Each Other
07:20 - Esson - Navigating New Work and Ambivalence
09:19 - Dylan - Holding On: A Lesson in Patience from a Cave
11:53 - Ruth - Going the Extra Mile as a First Responder
13:07 - Gerald "Soldier" Dent - 40 Years In, A Decade Free
17:51 - John - Finding Home in the Studio

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An &Human Production
Producer: Shawn Oyler, Double Reel Productions: https://doublereel.pro/

Learn more about The Traveling Table:
https://www.andhuman.space/thetraveli...
Instagram:   / thetraveling_table  
LinkedIn:   / andhumanspace  

Filmed at Artscape Baltimore in July 2025

About Strangers on the Street: Part of The Traveling Table, this series proves that when we create space for authentic conversation, strangers become storytellers—and we remember what it means to truly see each other.

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