When 14-year-old Siona Caldwell became an intern for popular Seattle inspirational speaker and youth leadership coach Houston Kraft, she knew she wanted to put his message into action.
That message? "While we can't choose how we feel, we can choose how we act," Kraft tells students. "The world might be a scary place, but we can choose to fill it with love."
Siona, a Vashon Island McMurray Middle School eighth grader, decided to meld her passion for the "Choose Love" campaign and her love of photography to create the "Love of Seattle Project." Inspired by the wildly popular street photography website and book, Humans of New York, – Siona's Choose "Choose Love" campaign challenges Puget Sounds residents to walk up to complete strangers, ask them a question about love, snap their picture and then post their photos and comments to the project's website: www.LoveofSeattle.com.
Siona says her goal is to showcase how every day Seattleites' experience love and to show people, youth especially, that love can be found anywhere, in anybody.
"When was the first time you felt really loved?" she recently asked a stranger. They were eager to answer:
"As a kid. With my mom and dad, growing up."
"What has love taught you?" Siona queried another. The person stopped to consider their answer.
"Wow, that's a big question," he responded. "I don't know if I have a succinct answer for that. There are different types of love. I pretty much confine mine to music, art, my wife, and dogs."
While the project is just getting starting, and only a handful of photos and quotes have been posted, Siona says it's picking up steam. She says she's been happily surprised how willing strangers are to stop, talk and pose.
"It's been amazing how nice and friendly people have been," Siona says. "It's like when I interview them, they get almost as excited as I am about my project. I think people really like opening up about themselves when you're asking them about love. It's a way of sharing and spreading love, and I love that idea."
So what would Siona Caldwell say if a stranger walked up and asked her what love means to her and what impact it's had in her life?
"I would say there are many different kinds of love, but it's caring for someone and staying with them," she says. "My family has always been there for me and loved me a lot. They support whatever I want to do or be. My family taught me about love and that made an impact on how I act, for sure."
