The last thing most mall shoppers want is to interact with other
shoppers. Misha Maynerick, a Bahá'í artist living in Portland,
Ore., wanted to see if she could get some of these people to
literally reach out and touch someone -- to connect, albeit briefly,
with another “stranger.”

Ms. Maynerick wanted, in a creative way, to further the funda-
mental oneness of humanity, a core belief of the Bahá'í Faith. So
she created an “intervention” at the Third Street Promenade in
Santa Monica, Calif.


Misha Maynerick She and Razi Wilson, a Bahá'í in nearby Van
Nuys, walked up to shoppers, introduced themselves, and
asked the shoppers if they would be willing to shake hands with
another stranger, and be photographed as they did so.

“Most people were startled at first; they were on edge,” admits
Ms. Maynerick, who assembled the resulting photos in a
“Strangers Shaking Hands” portfolio.

The project, she says, is an “experiment into how people will react
when given the chance to relate in a way in which they are not
accustomed in certain situations.”

The two women approached several hundred people in all.
Those who agreed to participate were “completely uplifted and
excited by the activity,” Ms. Maynerick says. “They would
often continue chatting and discover things they had in common.

Many, however, refused to participate, which Ms. Maynerick
sees as a reflection of “powerful underlying assumptions in our
society,” which include the belief that “we exist in isolation, that
our own actions have no impact on greater society.”

Many shoppers asked the two women why they were doing
this project, Ms. Maynerick says, and were “extremely respon-
sive when we told them about the Bahá'í teaching on the unity
of humanity and the need for all people to make efforts to
promote unity.”

Although “Strangers Shaking Hands” is a “small action,” Ms.
Maynerick says, “we hope people will be inspired by what it
symbolizes: the possibility of every member of humanity reaching
out to another in an open and positive way, for no other reason
than the fact that we share this planet together.”
Source:
http://www.bahai.us/giving-humanity-helping-hand