The story of a bench and a book - A Fabulous idea !

I have been meaning to write this story, and I just came around to doing so today. Sometime, last summer, while I was out jogging, I came upon a book in a transparent pouch on a bench. My initial thought when I saw it was that someone had forgotten their book on the bench.

As I was on the cooling down part of my run - the path is by the lake, I decided to stop and check it out.

What a lovely surprise it was to discover that it was a "diary" for strangers. Someone had this brilliant idea to put a book on the bench so passers-by can share their thoughts in the book.

I suppose the pouch was to protect the book from the elements - rain and wind.

As I flipped through the book, I was amazed and touched by the stories and comments written in it. Someone wrote about his impending divorce, another about recovering from ill-health. Others were happy stories - about finishing an exam, another just visiting a new city, and some had words of wisdom to share or simply expressed their awe of the lake view.

I added my own little secret to the book: after all, nobody will know who is writing. A perfect therapeutic exercise if ever there was one: lovely water view and a book where you can write/share your thoughts without identifying yourself. I loved it!

It looks like this, bench diary, has been going on long before I stumbled upon it.They were already on book #9; this means that there are eight previous books filled with comments written by people anonymously. I wonder how i missed it. Judging by the thickness of the book, the write-ups must be in their 100s.

I could not resist taking pictures of some of the pages. I have taken the liberty to share them here - since the writers wrote anonymously, it should not be a problem. Anyhow, it is a story worth sharing so here goes:

As one of the writers rightly noted, the bench and a book) is a perfect way to connect people who happen along the same path. You not only share a perfect view but a moment in time to stop and reflect on something that's on your mind or maybe was not on your mind until you sat on the bench. And you get to share those thoughts with strangers you do not know and may never meet in this lifetime - and by so doing, you invariably become kindred spirits with hundreds of strangers.

I planned on going back this summer to check it out and perhaps add a few thoughts in too. But with the pandemic, I am not sure there will be any more sharing of thoughts in a common book. Or maybe, the person who thought of it might come up with another idea. But what a wonderful idea!

Update:  With the Covid-19 pandemic, as we expected, the book and the bench were nowhere in sight when I stopped there last week. I truly hope we return to good olde days soon.