“So are we all just playing roles?” I asked Evie Suss, the 73rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Evie, who works as a mindset coach, had been telling me how some of her clients seem compelled to follow certain paths in life, even if they’re not sure why. If [...]
Life in 1980s London was bleak, David Thomas said, so when his father, the attorney-general in Hong Kong, suggested David join him in Honkers, David agreed. Coincidentally, David, the 72nd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, did a similar lunches-with-strangers thing during his eight-year sojourn in Hong Kong. David would [...]
What a time to be a doctor. What a time to begin a new job. Those were my thoughts as I chatted with Jazmin Daniells, the 71st person I’ve met on my quest to meet 500 strangers. Jaz explained that she had started her new job with the Public Health Unit on that very day. Her [...]
Rachel Worsley, the 70th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, describes herself as ‘neurodivergent’, a term I’d never heard before. Just as we have diversity in terms of race and sexuality, Rachel explained, so we have diversity in how our brains function. Rachel has ADHD and autism. She also has [...]
Can you draw a picture of Donald Duck while dancing on roller-skates? Aditi Mamtani can. Aditi, the 69th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, performed this feat while competing at Miss India Australia last month. She placed second (which makes you wonder what you have to do to finish first). [...]
Years ago, when you had to pay the Sydney Harbour Bridge toll by handing over money (rather than with an electronic tag), Ronny Jensen used to do something surprising. Ronny, the 68th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, would sometimes give the attendant double the toll – paying for himself [...]
“Life is …” Now it’s up to you to fill in the blanks. I got that pearl from Timo Topp, the 67th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Timo keeps the “Life is” quote on a Post-it Note, which is stuck on the Wall of Wisdom (see photo) he keeps [...]
Ivana Katz says she no longer sweats the small stuff. Ivana, the 66th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, changed her outlook after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. Thankfully, Ivana defeated the cancer after several rounds of chemotherapy, but it put things in perspective. For example, why reject [...]
Some people go through their entire lives thinking they don’t fit in. Others experience that feeling only occasionally. But all of us, at some point, find ourselves in the role of outcast. Imagine you moved to Australia from a non-English-speaking country. Would you feel self-conscious about your accent? Would you feel insecure? Would you feel like [...]
"I'm completely obsessed with human behaviour, in case you haven't realised," said Emma Dunwoody, the 63rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers. Yes, Emma is obsessed, but in a good way, as I discovered during our meeting. Emma is a human design coach, which means she helps people recognise the [...]
