My photographer friend Bonnie Fournier and I have a lot in common. We are both passionate about doing our part to make a positive difference in the lives of others. We are storytellers. While I write stories that incorporate ancient wisdom and share these stories with groups, Bonnie tells her stories with her marvelous photographs. When Bonnie and I aren’t out doing our thing, we work alone honing our craft, implementing our wacky change-the-world plans and promoting our vision to anyone who will listen. On those occasions when I hit a snag and wonder if what I’m doing really is worth all the effort, I can count on Bonnie to talk me off the ledge.

In 2006 Bonnie decided to create 10,000 photos of people smooching each other. The Smooch! Project Mission:
“To serve as a photographic testament that all humans, regardless of social, economic, or political barriers, share a joyful willingness to welcome love and affection into their lives. It’s about love. It’s about tolerance. It’s about gratitude.”

Since then my friend has conducted “Smooch! Shoots” in various locations in Minnesota (including a recent session at a Tatoo Convention) and has collected 2200 photos so far. To accomplish her goal of amassing 10,000 Smooch! photos, she intends to travel to every state in the US. Eventually she’d like to publish a book about her photographic journey.
In order to finance the launch of the national tour, Bonnie needs to locate a corporate sponsor sympathetic to the cause. After going through a list of possibilities it dawned on her that the Smooch! Project would be a perfect fit for Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen’s show could chronicle Bonnie’s adventures as she travels from place to place taking photos of interesting people and telling their stories. But first Bonnie needed to attract the attention and the interest of a producer on The Ellen DeGeneres show. A daunting task.
Her solution? Conduct a series of Ellen Smooch! Shoots and send the photos to one of the producers.
The Shoots were nothing short of amazing. The pictures were hilarious. People who lived hundreds of miles away showed up to have their picture taken smooching their hero Ellen. In addition to having their photo taken kissing a cut-out of Ellen, each person wrote a personal note asking Ellen to support the Project.
Bonnie packed up the photos and the notes of support from each Ellen Smooch! Shoot. and sent them off to a producer on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. The last batch was sent yesterday. My friend hopes to hear something soon.
This week when you need a reason to smile peruse some of the Smooch! Project photos. It works for me every time. And if you are so inclined, you can purchase a photo or contribute to the cause by making a donation via PayPal. You can keep abreast of Bonnie’s progress on the Smooch Blog.
I hope that you share our belief that each of us has the power to make a positive difference in the life of someone else. Start small. Think big.