Hello, Stranger

A special addendum to the season recorded in the first few days of me having my van, before a different kind of journey began...

“You never know where the van is going to lead ya. You have to start the conversation to see where it goes.”

-Alec Snow

Publishing this conversation is a pretty special way to wrap up Season 1 of Hello, Stranger 5 years on. 

I wish you the courage to say a thousand hellos, the willingness to be broken open again into more of yourself, and the faith to believe in the magic of the everyday.

Onwards.

Love, Andrew

andrewpriis AT gmail.com

This one cut deep and made me cry before I published it today. I chose the title not only because of the episodes and how it made me feel right now, but because of this feedback from a listener 5 years ago on how it helped her to remember her dreams.

"As I listened to your conversation, I realised I forgot who I was. I had this dream which I let go of. I couldn't believe that I got stuck! I think your conversation is really nice because you're going to help a lot of people"

- Estrella, listened to the episode in 2020

You can find mark on IG @mark_vanderlugt, or if we're all lucky, having a fire with me and Dad on the farm :)

I really value how Kaley sees the world and I hope you will find something similar or different in yourself when you listen to this :)

you can find her on IG @kaley_sise

or at @secondsunphoto

"To prove how much I enjoyed it I listened to this episode the first time whilst I was doing a shift for work between phone calls and emails and I found myself holding out for those quiet times when I could continue with the podcast... I listened to it a second time just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything."

- Amanda

This one hits deep. I could really feel the conversation in my heart while it took place. Shadi is a beautiful soul and you can find him on IG @shadi0202

"You aren’t specifically mining for gold when you talk to people, yet people feel loved and heard in your presence, and naturally as a consequence of feeling heard, you hear the true wisdom that lies within them - it’s beautiful to listen to."

- my mate Jackson upon listening to this episode

A summary as described by my friend Louis:

In Jared's conversation what attracted me most was how the Third Door book influenced some of his ideology. Of all the quotes you said in the conversation, the one that stood out the most was your exchange on how you both view the notion of chasing money, how money can be a tool for a level of happiness, but not the primary objective. Another is on how your happiness is not dictated by crossing off things off a bucket list, but instead feeling alive. On the scale of 1-10, I’d like to rate this episode a 10, due to a personal connection I felt to this speaker on the other side of the mic. I felt his generosity, kindness, and attitude towards life mirrored that of my own, and I found myself feeling as if I already knew Jared.

One thing I find interesting is different conversations resonate with different people. To some degree, prediction is futile. This is also a good reminder for me as I put out my art and meet people in public - you never know who is going to fuck with what.

Anyhow,

Love Andrew

As I rebuild my energy and desire to keep creating, this is a very special episode for me. Last night, as I put up some of my belongings in a new house, I saw a quote from the conversation that has remained dear to my heart these last 5 years :) 

Apologies if there’s a difference in volume levels between the intro and main bit - tech has changed a lot since I first recorded. I used to nerd out on the audio of every episode, playing around with the LUFS, EQ, and all that jazz. As AI abounds, manual normalisation is now a bit more limited and fate lies in the hands of the Spotify Gods. 

Lmk your thoughts on IG - @andrew.riis

Love,

Andrew

Onwards.

Bit of a different kind of episode, this conversation was a kind of reflection point for me in the midst of starting Hello, Stranger. Jordan has been a long time friend of mine and has really impacted me numerous times, and this conversation was no different. I really reflected on I was discovering the why as I went, and how as much as this was a new container of sorts, I'd been having these kinds of conversations my whole life.

It has a different kind of flavour, and I learnt a lot from it myself - sometimes my excitement led to missing doors which would have be an opportunity to drop in more with him. I'm grateful for his grace here in letting me be fully enraptured by the exuberance of this period.

IG @andrew.riis

Hope you enjoyed this convo with Anna :) I re listened to it fully at the time of realeasing it and it was a reminder for me of the wisdom that builds when we commit to conversations (and life, at large) as a journey.

I'm in the midst of delivering on a promise I made 4 years ago to release the full season of conversations. They are nothing more, and nothing less.

You can DM me on Instagram @andrew.riis

Hope you enjoyed this convo with Jack :)

4 years on and I still believe wholeheartedly that there is depth, beauty and inspiration inside everyone when we take the time to listen and connect...

Would love to hear your thoughts - you can DM me on instagram @andrew.riis

This conversation was an end in and of itself - the fact it happened was more important than the fact it was recorded ;)

So keen to launch the remaining 9 conversations soon... they still remain some of the most meaningful work of my life so far. Say hello on IG: @andrew.riis

___

Is it possible to connect with anybody at all and have a conversation that enriches our lives?

I’m Andrew Riis and welcome to the experiment. I believe there is depth, beauty and inspiration inside everyone when we take the time to connect. This podcast does just that.

Each episode is a conversation with someone that is or used to be a stranger. Perhaps we don’t need scholars or celebrities to create a meaningful podcast... Maybe some of the best stories are tucked away, folded into the pockets of random passers-by, of people who may have just never been given a space to tell their story.

Listened to the conversation? Now it’s your turn. On the other side of hello, anything is possible.