The Project

My name is Morgan. In September of 2007, I moved to New York to attend college. At the time, I had no idea who I was. I came to New York in hopes that it could help me to find myself. And it did. After two years of walking its streets and meeting its people, I learned new things about myself. I learned new things about other people. New York changed me. It helped me to look at the world with brighter eyes. New York taught me that we're all loved, that we're all beautiful, that we're all perfect just the way we are. New York taught me how to more fully appreciate all of the people of this world. I left New York feeling guilty. It had given me so much, and I had given nothing in return. I'd been planning a trip to come back to visit. I knew that this was my chance to do something special for the city that I love so much.

A couple of years ago, I read about a project that a mother, Stephanie Nielson, had done with her children. They wrote sweet little messages on slips of paper, labeled them, "Read me," and placed them around their town for people to find. I loved the concept. I loved the idea of brightening someone's day with just a few simple words. My friend, Jennifer, and I made some read me messages of our own and placed them around our town in Georgia. At the time, I was home on my break from school in New York. My dream was to someday make some read me messages for New York. I decided that my visit this summer provided the perfect opportunity to do just that. I've spent the past few weeks making read me notes for New York City. With the help of Jennifer and my sister, Courtney, I made 355 read me messages. We left a few at all of the places that we visited while we were in town.

I do hope that other people's lives will be blessed by these messages. I hope that those who read the messages will know of their truth, that they will know that they are loved, and that they are beautiful, and that they are perfect just the way they are. I will be eternally indebted to New York City. This is only a small thing that I can do to give back to it just a small piece of what it has given to me.